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THE    BOOK-LOVER. 


THE     BOOK-LOVER 


BY 

JAMES    BALDWIN 


Whosoever  acknowledges  himself  to  be  a  zealous  follower  of  truth, 
of  happiness,  of  wisdom,  of  science,  or  even  of  the  faith,  must  of 
necessity  make  himself  a  Lover  of  liooks. 

RICHARD  DE  BURY 


SEVENTH    EDITION,    REVISED 


CHICAGO 
A.  C.  McCLURG  AND   COMPANY 


Copyright, 

By  Jansbn,  McClurc,  &  Ca 

A.D.   1884. 

Copyright, 
By  a.  C.  McClurg  &  Co. 


^  JFore  SEortr* 


'T^HE  titlepage  of  this  book  explains  its  plan 
and  purpose.  The  Courses  of  Reading 
and  the  Schemes  for  Practical  Study,  herein 
indicated,  are  the  outgrowth  of  the  Author's 
long  experience  as  a  lover  of  books  and  director 
of  reading.  They  have  been  tested  and  found 
to  be  all  that  is  claimed  for  them.  As  to  the 
large  number  of  quotations  in  the  first  part 
of  the  book,  they  are  given  in  the  belief  that 
"  in  a  multitude  of  counsels  there  is  wisdom." 
And  the  Author  finds  consolation  and  encour- 
agement in  the  following  words  of  Emerson : 
"  We  are  as  much  informed  of  a  writer's  genius 
by  what  he  selects,  as  by  what  he  originates. 
We  read  the  quotation  with  his  eyes,  and  find 
a  new  and  fervent  sense."  As  the  value  of 
the  most  useful  inventions  depends  upon  the 


vi  A  PORE  WORD. 

ingenious  placing  of  their  parts,  so  the  origi- 
nality of  this  work  may  be  found  to  lie  chiefly 
in  its  arrangement.  Yet  the  writer  confidently 
believes  that  his  readers  will  enjoy  that  which 
he  has  borrowed,  and  possibly  find  aid  and 
encouragement  in  that  which  he  claims  as  his 
own ;  and  therefore  this  book  is  sent  out  with 
the  hope  that  book-lovers  will  find  in  it  a  safe 
Guide  to  the  Best  Reading. 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

PRELUDE:   In  Praise  of  Books 9 

Chapter 

I.    On  the  Choice  of  Books 23 

II.     How  TO  Read 42 

III.  On  the  Value  and  Use  of  Libraries  56 

IV.  Books  for  every  Scholar 69 

V.    WhatBooksshall  Young  Folks  Read'  84 

VI.    The  Library  in  the  School  ....  108 

VII.    Courses  of  Reading  in  History     .    .  119 

VIII.    Courses   of    Reading    in    Geography 

and  Natural  History 144 

IX.    Philosophy  and  Religion 154 

X.    Political  Economy  and  the  Science 

of  Government 167 


viii  CONTENTS. 

Chapter  Page 

XI.    On  the  Practical  Study  of  English 

Literature 174 

XII.    "The  Hundred  Best  Books"      .     .     .  202 

An  After  Word 215 

INDEX 217 


PRELUDE. 

In  ^raiise  of  Booita. 


:  1 


ET  us  consider  how  great  a  com- 
modity of  doctrine  exists  in  Books  ; 
h  how  easily,  how  secretly,  how  safely 
they  expose  the  nakedness  of  hu- 
man ignorance  without  putting  it  to  shame. 
These  are  the  masters  who  instruct  us  with- 
out rods  and  ferules,  without  hard  words  and 
anger,  without  clothes  or  money.  If  you  ap- 
proach them,  they  are  not  asleep ;  if  inves- 
tigating you  interrogate  them,  they  conceal 
nothing;  if  you  mistake  them,  they  never 
grumble ;  if  you  are  ignorant,  they  cannot 
laugh  at  you. 

You  only,  O  Books,  are  liberal  and  in- 
dependent. You  give  to  all  who  ask,  and 
enfranchise  all  who  serve  you  assiduously. 
Truly,  you  are  the  ears  filled  with  most  pala- 
table grains.     You  are  golden  urns  in  which 

9 


lO  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

manna  is  laid  up ;  rocks  flowing  with  honey, 
or  rather,  indeed,  honeycombs ;  udders  most 
copiously  yielding  the  milk  of  life ;  store- 
rooms ever  full;  the  four-streamed  river  of 
Paradise,  where  the  human  mind  is  fed,  and 
the  arid  intellect  moistened  and  watered  ; 
fruitful  olives ;  vines  of  Engaddi ;  fig-trees 
knowing  no  sterility;  burning  lamps  to  be 
ever  held  in  the  hand. 

The  library,  therefore,  of  wisdom  is  more 
precious  than  all  riches ;  and  nothing  that  can 
be  wished  for  is  worthy  to  be  compared  with 
it.  Whosoever  acknowledges  himself  to  be 
a  zealous  follower  of  truth,  of  happiness,  of 
^  wisdom,  of  science,  or  even  of  the  faith,  must 
of  necessity  make  himself  a  Lover  of  Books. 
Richard  de  Bury,  1344. 

Books  are  friends  whose  society  is  ex- 
tremely agreeable  to  me ;  they  are  of  all  ages, 
and  of  every  country.  They  have  distin- 
guished themselves  both  in  the  cabinet  and  in 
the  field,  and  obtained  high  honors  for  their 
knowledge  of  the  sciences.  It  is  easy  to  gain 
access  to  them ;  for  they  are  always  at  my 
service,  and  I  admit  them  to  my  company, 
and  dismiss  them  from  it,  whenever  I  please. 
They  are  never  troublesome,  but  immediately 
answer  every  question  I  ask  them.  Some 
relate  to  me  the  events  of  past  ages,  while 


IN  PRAISE  OP  BOOKS.  il 

Others  reveal  to  me  the  secrets  of  Nature. 
Some  teach  me  how  to  live,  and  others  how 
to  die.  Some,  by  their  vivacity,  drive  away 
my  cares  and  exhilarate  my  spirits;  while 
others  give  fortitude  to  my  mind,  and  teach 
me  the  important  lesson  how  to  restrain  my 
desires,  and  to  depend  wholly  on  myself. 
They  open  to  me,  in  short,  the  various  avenues 
of  all  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  upon  their 
information  I  safely  rely  in  all  emergencies. 
In  return  for  all  these  services,  they  only  ask 
me  to  accommodate  them  with  a  convenient 
chamber  in  some  comer  of  my  humble  habi- 
tation, where  they  may  repose  in  peace ;  for 
these  friends  are  more  delighted  by  the  tran- 
quillity of  retirement,  than  with  the  tumults 
CI  society.  Francesco  Petrarca. 

Books  are  the  Glasse  of  Counsell  to  dress 
ourselves  by.  They  are  Life's  best  Business  : 
Vocation  to  them  hath  more  Emolument 
coming  in,  than  all  the  other  busie  Termes 
of  Life.  They  are  Feelesse  Counsellours,  no 
delaying  Patrons,  of  easie  Accesse,  and  kind 
Expedition,  never  sending  away  any  Client 
or  Petitioner.  They  are  for  Company,  the 
best  Friends ;  in  doubts,  Counsellours  ;  in 
Damp,  Comforters  ;  Time's  Perspective  ;  the 
home  Traveller's  Ship,  or  Horse ;  the  busie 
Man's  best  Recreation;  the  Opiate  of  idle 


12  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Wearinesse ;  the  Mind's  best  Ordinary ;  Na- 
ture's Garden  and  Seed-plot  of  Immortality. 

A  Writer  of  the  Sixteenth  Century 
(quoted  in  "  AUibone's  Dictionary"). 

But  how  can  I  live  here  without  my  books  ? 
I  really  seem  to  myself  crippled  and  only  half 
myself;  for  if,  as  the  great  Orator  used  to  say, 
arms  are  a  soldier's  members,  surely  books 
are  the  limbs  of  scholars.  Corasius  says  :  "Of 
1  a  truth,  he  who  would  deprive  me  of  books, 
|my  old  friends,  would  take  away  all  the  de- 
light of  my  life ;  nay,  I  will  even  say,  all  desire 
f  living." 

Balthasar  Bonifacius  Rhodiginus,  1656. 


f 


For  books  are  not  absolutely  dead  things, 
but  do  contain  a  potency  of  life  in  them  to 
be  as  active  as  that  soul  was  whose  progeny 
they  are ;  nay,  they  do  preserve,  as  in  a  vial, 
the  purest  efficacy  and  extraction  of  that 
living  intellect  that  bred  them.  I  know  they 
are  as  lively  and  as  vigorously  productive 
as  those  fabulous  dragon's  teeth,  and,  being 
sown  up  and  down,  may  chance  to  spring  up 
armed  men.  .  .  .  Many  a  man  lives,  a  burden 
to  the  earth;  but  a  good  book  is  the  pre- 
cious life-blood  of  a  master  spirit,  embalmed 
and    treasured    up    on    purpose    for    a    life 

beyond  life. 

John  Milton. 


ff 


IN  PRAISE  OP  BOOKS.  13 

Books  are  a  guide  in  youth,  and  an  enter- 
tainment for  age.  They  support  us  under 
solitude,  and  keep  us  from  being  a  burden  to 
ourselves.  They  help  us  to  forget  the  cross- 
ness of  men  and  things,  compose  our  cares 
and  our  passions,  and  lay  our  disappoint- 
ments asleep.  When  we  are  weary  of  the 
living,  we  may  repair  to  the  dead,  who  have 
nothing  of  peevishness,   pride,  or  design  in 

their  conversation. 

Jeremy  Collier. 


God  be  thanked  for  books  !  They  are  the 
voices  of  the  distant  and  the  dead,  and  make 
us  heirs  of  the  spiritual  life  of  past  ages. 
Books  are  the  true  levellers.  They  give  to 
all  who  will  faithfully  use  them,  the  society, 
the  spiritual  presence,  of  the  best  and  greatest 
of  our  race.  No  matter  how  poor  I  am ;  no 
matter  though  the  prosperous  of  my  own 
time  will  not  enter  my  obscure  dwelling;  if 
the  sacred  writers  will  enter  and  take  up 
their  abode  under  my  roof,  —  if  Milton  will 
cross  my  threshold  to  sing  to  me  of  Paradise  ; 
and  Shakspeare  to  open  to  me  the  worlds  of 
imagination  and  the  workings  of  the  human 
heart ;  and  Franklin  to  enrich  me  with  his 
practical  wisdom,  —  I  shall  not  pine  for  want 
of  intellectual  companionship,  and  I  may 
become  a  cultivated   man,   though  excluded 


14  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

from  what  is  called  the  best    society  in  the 
place  where  I  live. 

William  Ellery  Channing. 

In  a  comer  of  my  house  I  have  books,  — 
the  miracle  of  all  my  possessions,  more  won- 
derful than  the  wishing-cap  of  the  Arabian 
tales ;  for  they  transport  me  instantly,  not  only 
to  all  places,  but  to  all  times.  By  my  books 
I  can  conjure  up  before  me  to  a  momentary 
existence  many  of  the  great  and  good  men  of 
past  ages,  and  for  my  individual  satisfaction 
they  seem  to  act  agdin  the  most  renowned  of 
their  achievements ;  the  orators  declaim  for 
me,  the  historians  recite,  the  poets  sing. 

Dr.  Arnott. 

Wondrous,  indeed,  is  the  virtue  of  a  true 
book !  Not  like  a  dead  city  of  stones, 
yearly  crumbling,  yearly  needing  repair; 
more  like  a  tilled  field,  but  then  a  spiritual 
field ;  like  a  spiritual  tree,  let  me  rather  say, 
it  stands  from  year  to  year  and  from  age  to 
age  (we  have  books  that  already  number  some 
hundred  and  fifty  human  ages) ;  and  yearly 
comes  its  new  produce  of  leaves  (commenta- 
ries, deductions,  philosophical,  political  sys- 
tems; or  were  it  only  sermons,  pamphlets, 
journalistic  essays),  every  one  of  which  is 
talismanic  and  thaumaturgic,  for  it  can  per- 
suade man.  O  thou  who  art  able  to  write  a 
book,  which  once  in  two  centuries  or  oftener 


IN  PRAISE  OF  BOOKS.  15 

there  is  a  man  gifted  to  do,  envy  not  him 
whom  they  name  city- builder,  and  inexpres- 
sibly pity  him  whom  they  name  conqueror  or 
city-burner  !  Thou,  too,  art  a  conqueror  and 
victor ;  but  of  the  true  sort,  namely,  over  the 
Devil.  Thou,  too,  hast  built  what  will  out- 
last all  marble  and  metal,  and  be  a  wonder- 
bringing  city  of  mind,  a  temple  and  seminary 
and  prophetic  mount,  whereto   all   kindreds 

of  the  earth  will  pilgrim. 

Thomas  Carlyle. 

Good  books,  like  good  friends,  are  few  and 
chosen ;  the  more  select,  the  more  enjoyable ; 
and  like  these  are  approached  with  dififidence, 
nor  sought  too  familiarly  nor  too  often,  hav- 
ing the  precedence  only  when  friends  tire. 
The  most  mannerly  of  companions,  accessible 
at  all  times,  in  all  moods,  they  frankly  de- 
clare the  author's  mind,  without  giving  offence. 
Like  living  friends,  they  too  have  their  voice 
and  physiognomies,  and  their  company  is 
prized  as  old  acquaintances.  We  seek  them 
in  our  need  of  counsel  or  of  amusement,  with- 
out impertinence  or  apology,  sure  of  having 
our  claims  allowed.  A  good  book  justifies 
our  theory  of  personal  supremacy,  keeping 
this  fresh  in  the  memory  and  perennial.  What 
were  days  without  such  fellowship  ?  We  were 
alone  in  the  world  without  it. 

A.  Bronson  Alcott. 


1 6  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Consider  what  you  have  in  the  smallest 
chosen  library.  A  company  of  the  wisest  and 
wittiest  men  that  could  be  picked  out  of  all 
civil  countries,  in  a  thousand  years,  have  set 
in  best  order  the  results  of  their  learning  and 
wisdom.  The  men  themselves  were  hid  and 
inaccessible,  solitary,  impatient  of  interruption, 
fenced  by  etiquette;  but  the  thought  which 
they  did  not  uncover  to  their  bosom  friend 
is  here  written  out  in  transparent  words  to 
us,  the  strangers  of  another  age.  We  owe 
to  books  those  general  benefits  which  come 
from  high  intellectual  action.  Thus,  I  think, 
we  often  owe  to  them  the  perception  of 
immortality.  They  impart  sympathetic  ac- 
tivity to  the  moral  power.  Go  with  mean 
people,  and  you  think  life  is  mean.  Then 
read  Plutarch,  and  the  world  is  a  proud  place, 
peopled  with  men  of  positive  quality,  with 
heroes  and  demi-gods  standing  around  us, 
who  will  not  let  us  sleep.  Then  they  ad- 
dress the  imagination :  only  poetry  inspires 
poetry.  They  become  the  organic  culture  of 
the  time.  College  education  is  the  reading 
of  certain  books  which  the  common  sense  of 
all  scholars  agrees  will  represent  the  science 
already  accumulated.  ...  In  the  highest 
civilization    the    book    is    still    the    highest 

delight. 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 


IN  PRAISE  OF  BOOKS.  1 7 

A  GREAT  book  that  comes  from  a  great 
thinker,  —  it  is  a  ship  of  thought,  deep- 
freighted  with  truth,  with  beauty  too.  It 
sails  the  ocean,  driven  by  the  winds  of  heaven, 
breaking  the  level  sea  of  life  into  beauty  where 
it  goes,  leaving  behind  it  a  train  of  sparkling 
loveliness,  widening  as  the  ship  goes  on.  And 
what  a  treasure  it  brings  to  every  land,  scat- 
tering the  seeds  of  truth,  justice,  love,  and 
piety,  to  bless  the  world  in  ages  yet  to  come  ! 

Theodore  Parker. 

What  is  a  great  love  of  books?  It  is 
something  like  a  personal  introduction  to  the 
great  and  good  men  of  all  past  times.  Books, 
it  is  true,  are  silent  as  you  see  them  on  their 
shelves ;  but,  silent  as  they  are,  when  I  enter 
a  library  I  feel  as  if  almost  the  dead  were 
present,  and  I  know  if  I  put  questions  to 
these  books  they  will  answer  me  with  all  the 
faithfulness  and  fulness  which  has  been  left 
in  them  by  the  great  men  who  have  left  the 
books  with  us.  John  Bright. 

I  LOVE  my  books  as  drinkers  love  their  wine  ; 
The  more  I  drink,  the  more  they  seem  divine  ; 
With  joy  elate  my  soul  in  love  runs  o'er, 
And  each  fresh  draught  is  sweeter  than  before  ! 
Books  bring  me  friends  where'er  on  earth  1  be,  — 
Solace  of  solitude,  bonds  of  society. 

I  love  my  books  !  they  are  companions  dear, 
Sterling  in  worth,  in  friendship  most  sincere  ; 


1 8  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Here  talk  I  with  the  wise  in  ages  gone. 
And  with  the  nobly  gifted  in  our  own  : 
If  love,  joy,  laughter,  sorrow  please  my  mind. 
Love,  joy,  grief,  laughter  in  my  books  I  find. 

Francis  Bennoch. 

Books  are  the  windows  through  which  the 
soul  looks  out.  H^^,^Y  Ward  Beecher. 

Books  are  our  household  gods;  and  we 
cannot  prize  them  too  highly.  They  are  the 
only  gods  in  all  the  mythologies  that  are 
beautiful  and  unchangeable ;  for  they  betray 
no  man,  and  love  their  lovers.  I  confess  my- 
self an  idolater  of  this  literary  religion,  and 
am  grateful  for  the  blessed  ministry  of  books. 
It  is  a  kind  of  heathenism  which  needs  no 
missionary  funds,  no  Bible  even,  to  abolish 
it ;  for  the  Bible  itself  caps  the  peak  of  this 
new  Olympus,  and  crowns  it  with  sublimity 
and  glory.  Amongst  the  many  things  we 
have  to  be  thankful  for,  as  the  result  of 
modem  discoveries,  surely  this  of  printed 
books  is  the  highest  of  all;  and  I,  for  one, 
am  so  sensible  of  its  merits  that  I  never  think 
of  the  name  of  Gutenberg  without  feelings  of 

veneration  and  homage. 

January  Searle. 

The  only  true  equalizers  in  the  world  are 
books ;  the  only  treasure-house  open  to  all 
comers  is  a  library;  the  only   wealth  which 


IN  PRAISE  OF  BOOKS.  19 

will  not  decay  is  knowledge ;  the  only  jewel 
which  you  can  carry  beyond  the  grave  is 
wisdom.  To  live  in  this  equality,  to  share  in 
these  treasures,  to  possess  this  wealth,  and 
to  secure  this  jewel  may  be  the  happy  lot  of 
every  one.  All  that  is  needed  for  the  acqui- 
sition  of  these   inestimable   treasures  is  the 

love  of  books. 

J.  A.  Langford. 

Let  us  thank  God  for  books.  When  I 
consider  what  some  books  have  done  for  the 
world,  and  what  they  are  doing;  how  they 
keep  up  our  hope,  awaken  new  courage  and 
faith,  soothe  pain,  give  an  ideal  life  to  those 
whose  homes  are  hard  and  cold,  bind  to- 
gether distant  ages  and  foreign  lands,  create 
new  worlds  of  beauty,  bring  down  truths 
from  heaven,  —  I  give  eternal  blessings  for 
this  gift,  and  pray  that  we  may  use  it  aright, 

and  abuse  it  not. 

James  Freeman  Clarke. 

Books,  we  know, 
Are  a  substantial  world,  both  pure  and  good  ; 
Round  these,  with  tendrils  strong  as  flesh  and  blood, 
Our  pastime  and  our  happiness  will  grow. 

William  Wordsworth. 

Precious  and  priceless  are  the  blessings 
which  books  scatter  around  our  daily  paths. 
We  walk,  in   imagination,  with  the   noblest 


20  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

spirits,  through  the  most  sublime  and  en- 
chanting regions,  —  regions  which,  to  all  that 
is  lovely  in  the  forms  and  colors  of  earth, 

"  Acid  the  gleam, 
The  light  that  never  was  on  sea  or  land, 
The  consecration  and  the  poet's  dream." 

A  motion  of  the  hand  brings  all  Arcadia  to 
sight.  The  war  of  Troy  can,  at  our  bidding, 
rage  in  the  narrowest  chamber.  Without 
stirring  from  our  firesides,  we  may  roam  to 
the  most  remote  regions  of  the  earth,  or  soar 
into  realms  where  Spenser's  shapes  of  un- 
earthly beauty  flock  to  meet  us,  where  Milton's 
angels  peal  in  our  ears  the  choral  hymns  of 
Paradise.     Science,  art,  literature,  philosophy, 

—  all  that  man  has  thought,  all  that  man  has 
done,  —  the  experience  that  has  been  bought 
with  the  sufferings  of  a  hundred  generations, 

—  all  are  garnered  up  for  us  in  the  world  of 
books.  There,  among  realities,  in  a  "sub- 
stantial world,"  we  move  with  the  crowned 
kings  of  thought.  There  our  minds  have  a 
free  range,  our  hearts  a  free  utterance.  Rea- 
son is  confined  within  none  of  the  partitions 
which  trammel  it  in  life.  In  that  world,  no 
divinity  hedges  a  king,  no  accident  of  rank  or 
fashion  ennobles  a  dunce  or  shields  a  knave. 
We  can  select  our  companions  from  among 
the  most  richly  gifted  of  the  sons  of  God; 


IN  PRAISE  OF  BOOKS.  21 

and  they  are  companions  who  will  not  desert 
us  in  poverty,  or  sickness,  or  disgrace. 

Edwin  P.  Whipple. 

My  latest  passion  shall  be  for  books. 

Friedrich  II.  OF  Prussia. 

For  what  a  world  of  books  offers  itself,  in 
all  subjects,  arts,  and  sciences,  to  the  sweet 
content  and  capacity  of  the  reader?  In  arith- 
metic, geometry,  perspective,  optics,  astron- 
omy, architecture,  sculptura,  pictura,  of  which 
so  many  and  such  elaborate  treatises  are  of 
late  written  ;  in  mechanics  and  their  mysteries, 
military  matters,  navigation,  riding  of  horses, 
fencing,  swimming,  gardening,  planting,  etc. 
.  .  .  What  so  sure,  what  so  pleasant  ?  What 
vast  tomes  are  extant  in  law,  physic,  and 
divinity,  for  profit,  pleasure,  practice,  specu- 
lation, in  verse  or  prose  !  Their  names  alone 
are  the  subject  of  whole  volumes ;  we  have 
thousands  of  authors  of  all  sorts,  many  great 
libraries,  full  well  furnished,  like  so  many 
dishes  of  meat,  served  out  for  several  palates, 
and  he  is  a  very  block  that  is  affected  with 

none  of  them. 

Robert  Burton. 

Except  a  living  man,  there  is  nothing  more 
wonderful  than  a  book  !  —  a  message  to  us 
from  the  dead, — from  human  souls  whom  we 
never  saw,  who  lived  perhaps  thousands  of 


22  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

miles  away;   and   yet  these,  on  those  little 

sheets  of  paper,  speak  to  us,  amuse  us,  vivify 

us,  teach  us,  comfort  us,  open  their  hearts  to 

us  as  brothers.     We  ought  to  reverence  books, 

to  look  at  them  as  useful  and  mighty  things. 

If  they  are  good  and  true,  .  .  .  they  are  the 

message  of  Christ,  the  maker  of  all  things, 

the  teacher  of  all  truth. 

Charles  Kingsley. 

Golden  volumes  1  richest  treasures  1 
Objects  of  delicious  pleasures  I 
You  my  eyes  rejoicing  please, 
You  my  hands  in  rapture  seize. 
Brilliant  wits  and  musing  sages, 
Lights  who  beamed  through  many  ages, 
Left  to  your  conscious  leaves  their  story, 
And  dared  to  trust  you  with  their  glory ; 
And  now  their  hope  of  fame  achieved, 
Dear  volumes  I  — you  have  not  deceived. 

Henry  Rantzau. 


CHAPTER   I. 


©n  t!)e  Cf)0tce  of  Boafes, 


The  choice  of  books  is  not  the  least  part  of  the  duty  of 
a  scholar.  If  he  would  become  a  man,  and  worthy  to  deal 
with  manlike  things,  he  must  read  only  the  bravest  and  no- 
blest, books,  —  books  forged  at  the  heart  and  fashioned  by 
the  intellect  of  a  godlike  man.  —  January  Searle. 

HE  most  important  question  for  you 
to  ask  yourself,  be  you  teacher  or 
scholar,  is  this :  What  books  shall 
I  read?  For  him  who  has  incli- 
nation to  read,  there  is  no  dearth  of  reading 
matter,  and  it  is  obtainable  almost  for  the 
asking.  Books  are  in  a  manner  thrust  upon 
you  almost  daily.  Shall  you  read  without  dis- 
crimination whatever  comes  most  readily  to 
hand?  As  well  say  that  you  will  accept  as 
a  friend  and  companion  every  man  whom  you 
meet  on  the  street.  Shall  you  read  even 
every  good  book   that  comes  in  your  way, 

23 


24  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

simply  because  it  is  harmless  and  interesting? 
It  is  not  every  harmless  book,  nor  indeed 
every  good  book,  that  will  make  your  mind 
the  richer  for  the  reading  of  it.  Never,  per- 
haps, has  the  right  choice  of  books  been 
more  difficult  than  at  present ;  and  never  did 
it  behoove  more  strongly  both  teachers  and 
scholars  to  look  well  to  the  character  of  that 
which  they  read. 

First,  then,  let  us  consider  what  books  we 
are  to  avoid.  All  will  agree  that  those  which 
are  really  and  absolutely  bad  should  be 
shunned  as  we  shun  a  pestilence.  In  these 
last  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  is 
no  more  prolific  cause  of  evil  than  bad  books. 
There  are  many  books  so  utterly  vile  that 
there  is  no  mistaking  their  character,  and  no 
question  as  to  whether  they  should  be  avoided. 
There  are  others  which  are  a  thousand-fold 
more  dangerous  because  they  come  to  us 
disguised,  —  "  wolves  in  sheep's  clothing,"  — 
affecting  a  character  of  harmlessness,  if  not 
of  sanctity.  I  have  heard  those  who  ought  to 
know  better,  laugh  at  the  silly  jokes  of  a  very 
silly  book,  and  offer  by  way  of  excuse  that 
there  was  nothing  very  bad  in  it.  I  have 
heard  teachers  recommend  to  their  pupils 
reading  matter  which,  to  say  the  least,  was  of 


THE  CHOICE  OF  BOOKS.  25 

a  very  doubtful  character.  Now,  the  only 
excuse  that  can  be  offered  in  such  cases  is 
ignorance,  —  "I  did  n't  know  there  was  any 
harm  in  the  book."  But  the  teacher  who 
through  ignorance  poisons  the  moral  char- 
acter and  checks  the  mental  growth  of  his 
pupils  is  as  guilty  of  criminal  carelessness  as 
the  druggist's  clerk  who  by  mistake  sells  ar- 
senic for  quinine.  Step  down  and  out  of  that 
responsible  position  which  you  are  in  no  wise 
qualified  to  fill !  The  direction  of  the  pupils' 
habits  of  reading,  the  choice  of  reading  mat- 
ter for  them,  is  by  no  means  the  least  of  the 
teacher's  duties. 

The  elder  Pliny,  eighteen  hundred  years 
ago,  was  accustomed  to  say  that  no  book  was 
so  bad  but  that  some  part  of  it  might  be  read 
with  profit.  This  may  have  been  true  in 
Pliny's  time ;  but  it  is  very  far  from  correct 
now-a-days.  A  large  number  of  books,  and 
many  which  attain  an  immense  circulation, 
are  but  the  embodiment  of  evil  from  begin- 
ning to  end ;  others,  although  not  absolutely 
and  aggressively  bad,  contain  not  a  single 
line  that  can  be  read  with  profit. 

What  are  the  sure  criterions  of  a  bad  book? 
There  is  no  better  authority  on  this  subject 
than  the  Rev.  Robert  Collyer.     He  says  :  "  If 


26  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

when  I  read  a  book  about  God,  I  find  that  it 
has  put  Him  farther  from  me ;  or  about  man, 
that  it  has  put  me  farther  from  him  ;  or  about 
this  universe,  that  it  has  shaken  down  upon  it 
a  new  look  of  desolation,  turning  a  green  field 
into  a  wild  moor;  or  about  life,  that  it  has 
made  it  seem  a  little  less  worth  living,  on  all 
accounts,  than  it  was ;  or  about  moral  prin- 
ciples, that  they  are  not  quite  so  clear  and 
strong  as  they  were  when  this  author  began 
to  talk ;  —  then  I  know  that  on  any  of  these 
five  cardinal  things  in  the  life  of  man,  —  his 
relations  to  God,  to  his  fellows,  to  the  world 
about  him,  and  the  world  within  him,  and 
the  great  principles  on  which  all  things  stable 
centre,  —  that,  for  me,  is  a  bad  book.  It  may 
chime  in  with  some  lurking  appetite  in  my 
own  nature,  and  so  seem  to  be  as  sweet  as 
honey  to  my  taste  ;  but  it  comes  to  bitter,  bad 
results.  It  may  be  food  for  another;  I  can 
say  nothing  to  that.  He  may  be  a  pine  while 
I  am  a  palm.  I  only  know  this,  that  in  these 
great  first  things,  if  the  book  I  read  shall  touch 
them  at  all,  it  shall  touch  them  to  my  profit 
or  I  will  not  read  it.  Right  and  wrong  shall 
grow  more  clear ;  life  in  and  about  me  more 
divine ;  I  shall  come  nearer  to  my  fellows, 
and  God  nearer  to  me,  or  the  thing  is  a  poi- 


THE  CHOICE  OF  BOOKS.  27 

son,  Faust,  or  Calvin,  or  Carlyle,  if  any  one 
of  these  cardinal  things  is  the  grain  and  the 
grist  of  the  book,  and  that  is  what  it  comes  to 
when  I  read  it,  I  am  being  drugged  and  poi- 
soned ;  and  the  sooner  I  know  it  the  better, 
I  want  bread,  and  meat,  and  milk,  not  brandy, 
or  opium,  or  hasheesh."  ' 

And  Robert  Southey,  the  poet,  expresses 
nearly  the  same  thing  :  "  Young  readers, —  you 
whose  hearts  are  open,  whose  understandings 
are  not  yet  hardened,  and  whose  feelings  are 
not  yet  exhausted  nor  encrusted  with  the 
world,  —  take  from  me  a  better  rule  than  any 
professors  of  criticism  will  teach  you  !  Would 
you  know  whether  the  tendency  of  a  book  is 
good  or  evil,  examine  in  what  state  of  mind 
you  lay  it  down.  Has  it  induced  you  to  sus- 
pect that  what  you  have  been  accustomed  to 
think  unlawful  may  after  all  be  innocent,  and 
that  may  be  harmless  which  you  have  hitherto 
been  taught  to  think  dangerous?  Has  it 
tended  to  make  you  dissatisfied  and  impa- 
tient under  the  control  of  others,  and  dis- 
posed you  to  relax  in  that  self-government 
without  which  both  the  laws  of  God  and  man 
tell  us  there  can  be  no  virtue,  and,  conse- 
quently, no  happiness  ?     Has  it  attempted  to 

'  Robert  Collyer  :  Addresses  and  Sermons. 


28  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

abate  your  admiration  and  reverence  for  what 
is  great  and  good,  and  to  diminish  in  you  the 
love  of  your  country  and  your  fellow-crea- 
tures ?  Has  it  addressed  itself  to  your  pride, 
your  vanity,  your  selfishness,  or  any  other  of 
your  evil  propensities  ?  Has  it  defiled  the  im- 
agination with  what  is  loathsome,  and  shocked 
the  heart  with  what  is  monstrous?  Has  it 
disturbed  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong  which 
the  Creator  has  implanted  in  the  human  soul  ? 
If  so,  if  you  are  conscious  of  any  or  all  of 
these  eflects,  or  if,  having  escaped  fi-om  all, 
you  have  felt  that  such  were  the  effects  it  was 
intended  to  produce,  throw  the  book  in  the 
fire,  whatever  name  it  may  bear  in  the  title- 
page  !  Throw  it  in  the  fire,  young  man, 
though  it  should  have  been  the  gift  of  a 
friend ;  young  lady,  away  with  the  whole  set, 
though  it  should  be  the  prominent  furniture 
of  a  rosewood  bookcase." ' 

"  It  is  the  case  with  literature  as  with  life," 
says  Arthur  Schopenhauer,  the  German  phi- 
losopher. "  Wherever  we  turn  we  come  upon 
the  incorrigible  mob  of  humankind,  whose 
name  is  Legion,  swarming  everywhere,  dam- 
aging everything,  as  flies  in  summer.  Hence 
the  multiplicity  of  bad  books,  those  exuberant 

'    The  Doctor,  Interchapter  V.,  1856. 


THE  CHOICE  OP  BOOKS.  29 

weeds  of  literature  which  choke  the  true  corn. 
Such  books  rob  the  public  of  time,  money, 
and  attention,  which  ought  properly  to  belong 
to  good  Hterature  and  noble  aims ;  and  they 
are  written  with  a  view  merely  to  make  money 
or  occupation.  They  are  therefore  not  mere- 
ly useless,  but  injurious.  Nine  tenths  of  our 
current  literature  has  no  other  end  but  to  in- 
veigle a  thaler  or  two  out  of  the  public  pocket, 
for  which  purpose  author,  publisher,  and 
printer  are  leagued  together.  ...  Of  bad 
books  we  can  never  read  too  little ;  of  the 
good,  never  too  much.  The  bad  are  intellec- 
tual poison,  and  undermine  the  understand- 
ing." ' 

From  Thomas  Carlyle's  inaugural  address  at 
Edinburgh  on  the  occasion  of  his  installation 
as  rector  of  the  University  in  1866,  I  quote 
the  following  potent  passage  :  "  I  do  not  know 
whether  it  has  been  sufificiendy  brought  home 
to  you  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  books. 
"When  a  man  is  reading  on  any  kind  of  subject, 
in  most  departments  of  books,  —  in  all  books, 
if  you  take  it  in  a  wide  sense,  —  he  will  find 
that  there  is  a  division  into  good  books  and 
bad  books  :  everywhere  a  good  kind  of  a  book 

'  Arthur  Schopenhauer :  Parerga  und  Paralipomena, 
1851. 


30  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

and  a  bad  kind  of  a  book.  I  am  not  to  assume 
that  you  are  unacquainted  or  ill-acquainted 
with  this  plain  fact ;  but  I  may  remind  you 
that  it  is  becoming  a  very  important  consid- 
eration in  our  day.  .  .  .  There  is  a  number, 
a  frightfully  increasing  number,  of  books  that 
are  decidedly,  to  the  readers  of  them,  not 
useful.  But  an  ingenious  reader  will  learn, 
also,  that  a  certain  number  of  books  were 
written  by  a  supremely  noble  kind  of  people  ; 
not  a  very  great  number  of  books,  but  still  a 
number  fit  to  occupy  all  your  reading  indus- 
try, do  adhere  more  or  less  to  that  side  of 
things.  In  short,  as  I  have  written  it  down 
somewhere  else,  I  conceive  that  books  are 
like  men's  souls,  divided  into  sheep  and  goats. 
Some  few  are  going  up,  and  carrj'ing  us  up, 
heavenward;  calculated,  I  mean,  to  be  of 
priceless  advantage  in  teaching,  —  in  forward- 
ing the  teaching  of  all  generations.  Others, 
a  frightful  multitude,  are  going  down,  down ; 
doing  ever  the  more  and  the  wider  and  the 
wilder  mischief.  Keep  a  strict  eye  on  that 
latter  class  of  books,  my  young  friends  !  " 

Speaking  of  those  books  whose  inward  char- 
acter- and  influence  it  is  hard  at  first  to  dis- 
cern, John  Ruskin  says:  "Avoid  especially 
that  class  of  literature  which  has  a  knowing 


THE  CHOICE  OF  BOOKS.  31 

tone  ;  it  is  the  most  poisonous  of  all.  Every 
good  book,  or  piece  of  book,  is  full  of  admi- 
ration and  awe  :  it  may  contain  firm  assertion 
or  stern  satire,  but  it  never  sneers  coldly,  nor 
asserts  haughtily ;  and  it  always  leads  you  to 
reverence  or  love  something  with  your  whole 
heart.  It  is  not  always  easy  to  distinguish 
the  satire  of  the  venomous  race  of  books  from 
the  satire  of  the  noble  and  pure  ones ;  but, 
in  general,  you  may  notice  that  the  cold- 
blooded Crustacean  and  Batrachian  books  will 
sneer  at  sentiment,  and  the  warm-blooded,  hu- 
man books  at  sin.  .  .  .  Much  of  the  literature 
of  the  present  day,  though  good  to  be  read  by 
persons  of  ripe  age,  has  a  tendency  to  agitate 
rather  than  confirm,  and  leaves  its  readers  too 
frequently  in  a  helpless  or  hopeless  indigna- 
tion, the  worst  possible  state  into  which  the 
mind  of  youth  can  be  thrown.  It  may,  in- 
deed, become  necessary  for  you,  as  you 
advance  in  life,  to  set  your  hand  to  things 
that  need  to  be  altered  in  the  world,  or  apply 
your  heart  chiefly  to  what  must  be  pitied  in 
it,  or  condemned ;  but  for  a  young  person 
the  safest  temper  is  one  of  reverence,  and 
the  safest  place  one  of  obscurity.  Certainly 
at  present,  and  perhaps  through  all  your  life, 
your  teachers  are  wisest  when  they  make  you 


32  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

content  in  quiet  virtue ;  and  that  literature 
and  art  are  best  for  you  which  point  out,  in 
common  life  and  familiar  things,  the  objects 
for  hopeful  labor  and  for  humble  love." ' 

There  would  be  fewer  bad  books  in  tlie 
world  if  readers  were  properly  informed  and 
warned  of  their  character ;  and  we  may  be- 
lieve that  the  really  vicious  books  would 
soon  cease  to  exist  if  their  makers  and  pub- 
lishers were  popularly  regarded  with  the  same 
detestation  as  other  corrupters  of  the  public 
morals.  "  He  who  has  published  an  inju- 
rious book,"  says  Robert  South,  "  sins,  as 
it  were  in  his  very  grave ;  corrupts  others 
while  he  is  rotting  himself."  Addison  says 
much  the  same  thing  :  "  Writers  of  great 
talents,  who  employ  their  parts  in  propagating 
immorality,  and  seasoning  vicious  sentiments 
with  wit  and  humor,  are  to  be  looked  upon 
as  the  pests  of  society  and  the  enemies  of 
mankind.  They  leave  books  behind  them  to 
scatter  infection  and  destroy  their  posterity. 
They  act  the  counterparts  of  a  Confucius  or 
a  Socrates,  and  seem  to  have  been  sent  into 
the  world  to  deprave  human  nature,  and  sink 
it  into  the  condition  of  brutality." "" 

'   The  Elements  of  Drawing,  in  Three  Letters  to  Begin- 
ners., 1857. 
*  The  Spectator,  No.  166. 


THE  CHOICE  OF  BOOKS.  33 

And  William  Cobbett  is  still  more  severe 
in  his  denunciation.  In  his  "Advice  to  Young 
Men,"  he  says  :  "  I  hope  that  your  taste  will 
keep  you  aloof  from  the  writings  of  those 
detestable  villains  who  employ  the  powers  of 
their  mind  in  debauching  the  minds  of  others, 
or  in  endeavors  to  do  it.  They  present  their 
poison  in  such  captivating  forms  that  it  re- 
quires great  virtue  and  resolution  to  withstand 
their  temptations ;  and  they  have,  perhaps, 
done  a  thousand  times  as  much  mischief  in 
the  world  as  all  the  infidels  and  atheists  put 
together.  These  men  ought  to  be  held  in 
universal  abhorrence,  and  never  spoken  of 
but  with  execration." 

But  the  shunning  of  bad  books  is  only  one 
of  the  problems  presented  to  us  in  the  choice 
of  our  reading.  In  the  great  multitude  of 
really  good  and  valuable,  books,  how  shall  we 
choose  those  which  are  of  the  most  vital  im- 
portance to  us  to  know?  The  universal  habit 
of  desultory  reading  —  reading  simply  to  be 
entertained — is  a  habit  not  to  be  indulged 
in,  nor  encouraged,  by  scholars  or  by  those 
who  aspire  to  the  station  of  teachers.  There 
are  perhaps  a  score  of  books  which  should 
be  read  and  studied  by  every  one  who  claims 
the  title  of  reader ;  but,  aside  from  these,  each 
3 


34  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

person  should  determine,  through  a  process  of 
rigid  self-examination,  what  course  of  reading 
and  what  books  are  likely  to  produce  the  most 
profitable  results  to  him.  Find  out,  if  possible, 
what  is  your  special  bent  of  mind.  What 
line  of  inquiry  or  investigation  is  the  most 
congenial  to  your  taste  or  mental  capacity? 
Having  determined  this  question,  let  your 
reading  all  centre  upon  that  topic  of  study 
which  you  have  rriade  your  own,  —  let  it  be 
Literature,  Science,  History,  Art,  or  any  of 
the  innumerable  subdivisions  of  these  sub- 
jects. In  other  words,  choose  a  specialty,  and 
follow  it  with  an  eye  single  to  it  alone. 

Says  Frederic  Harrison  :  "  Every  book  that 
we  take  up  without  a  purpose  is  an  oppor- 
tunity lost  of  taking  up  a  book  with  a  pur- 
pose ;  every  bit  of  stray  information  which  we 
cram  into  our  heads  without  any  sense  of  its 
importance  is  for  the  most  part  a  bit  of  the 
most  useful  information  driven  out  of  our 
heads  and  choked  off  from  our  minds.  .  .  . 
We  know  that  books  differ  in  value  as  much 
as  diamonds  differ  from  the  sand  on  the  sea- 
shore, as  much  as  our  living  friend  differs 
from  a  dead  rat.  We  know  that  much  in  the 
myriad-peopled  world  of  books  —  very  much 
in  all  kinds  —  is  trivial,  enervating,  inane,  even 


THE  CHOICE  OP  BOOKS.  35 

noxious.  And  thus,  where  we  have  infinite 
opportunities  of  wasting  our  effort  to  no  end, 
of  fatiguing  our  minds  without  enriching  them, 
of  clogging  the  spirit  without  satisfying  it, 
there,  I  cannot  but  think,  the  very  infinity  of 
opportunities  is  robbing  us  of  the  actual  power 
of  using  them.  ...  To  know  anything  that 
turns  up  is,  in  the  infinity  of  knowledge,  to 
know  nothing.  To  read  the  first  book  we 
come  across,  in  the  wilderness  of  books,  is  to 
learn  nothing.  To  turn  over  the  pages  of 
ten  thousand  volumes  is  to  Be  practically 
indifferent  to  all  that  is  good."  ' 

"It  is  of  paramount  importance,"  says 
Schopenhauer,  "  to  acquire  the  art  not  to  read ; 
in  other  words,  of  not  reading  such  books  as 
occupy  the  public  mind,  or  even  those  which 
make  a  noise  in  the  world,  and  reach  several 
editions  in  their  first  and  last  year  of  existence. 
We  should  recollect  that  he  who  writes  for 
fools  finds  an  enormous  audience,  and  we 
should  devote  the  ever  scant  leisure  of  our  cir- 
cumscribed existence  to  the  master-spirits  of  all 
ages  and  nations,  those  who  tower  over  human- 
ity, and  whom  the  voice  of  Fame  proclaims  : 
only  such  writers  cultivate  and  instruct  us."  * 

"  Fortnightly  Review  (April,  1879),  —  "On  the  Choice 
of  Books."  '  Parers^a  und  Paralipomena  {li^i). 


36     .  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

And  John  Ruskin  offers  the  following  per- 
tinent advice  to  beginners :  "  It  is  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  you,  not  only  for  art's 
sake,  but  for  all  kinds  of  sake,  in  these  days 
of  book  deluge,  to  keep  out  of  the  salt 
swamps  of  literature,  and  live  on  a  little  rocky 
island  of  your  own,  with  a  spring  and  a  lake 
in  it,  pure  and  good.  I  cannot,  of  course, 
suggest  the  choice  of  your  library  to  you,  for 
every  several  mind  needs  different  books; 
but  there  are  some  books  which  we  all  need, 
and  assuredly,  if  you  read  Homer,  Plato, 
^schylus,  Herodotus,  Dante,  Shakspeare, 
and  Spenser  as  much  as  you  ought,  you  will 
not  require  wide  enlargement  of  your  shelves 
to  right  and  left  of  them  for  purposes  of  per- 
petual study.  Among  modem  books,  avoid 
generally  magazine  and  review  literature. 
Sometimes  it  may  contain  a  useful  abridg- 
ment or  a  wholesome  piece  of  criticism ;  but 
the  chances  are  ten  to  one  it  will  either  waste 
your  time  or  mislead  you.  If  you  want  to 
understand  any  subject  whatever,  read  the 
best  book  upon  it  you  can  hear  of;  not  a 
review  of  the  book.  ...  A  common  book  will 
often  give  you  much  amusement,  but  it  is 
only  a  noble  book  which  wiU  give  you  dear 
friends." 


THE  CHOICE  OP  BOOKS.  37 

If  any  of  us  could  recall  the  time  which  we 
have  spent  in  desultory  and  profitless  reading, 
and  devote  it  now  faithfully  to  the  prosecution 
of  that  special  line  of  study  which  ought,  long 
ago,  to  have  been  chosen,  how  largely  we 
might  add  to  our  fund  of  useful  knowledge, 
and  how  grandly  we  might  increase  our  in- 
tellectual stature  !  "  And  again,"  remarks 
James  Herbert  Morse,  *'  if  I  could  recover  the 
hours  idly  given  to  the  newspaper,  not  for 
my  own  gratification,  but  solely  for  my  neigh- 
bor at  the  breakfast-table,  I  could  compass 
a  solid  course  of  English  and  American  his- 
tory, get  at  the  antecedents  of  political  parties 
in  the  two  countries,  and  give  the  reasons  for 
the  existence  of  Gladstone  and  Parnell,  of 
Blaine  and  Edmunds,  in  modern  politics  — 
and  there  is  undoubtedly  a  reason  for  them 
all.  Two  columns  a  day  in  the  newspapers  — 
which  I  could  easily  have  spared,  for  they 
were  given  mainly  to  murder-trials  and  the 
search  for  corpses,  or  to  the  romance  of  the 
reporter  concerning  the  same  —  have  dur- 
ing the  last  ten  years  absorbed  just  about  the 
time  I  might  have  spent  in  reading  a  very  re- 
spectable course  in  history,  —  one  embracing, 
say,  Curtius  and  Grote  for  Greece,  Mommsen, 
Merivale,  and   Gibbon  for  Rome,  Macaulay 


38  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

and  Green  for  my  roots  in  Saxondom,  Ban- 
croft, Hildreth,  and  Palfrey  for  the  ancestral 
tree  in  America,  together  with  a  very  notable 
excursion  into  Spain  and  Holland  with  Motley 
and  Prescott,  —  a  course  which  I  consider 
very  desirable,  and  one  which  should  set  up 
a  man  of  middle  age  very  fairly  in  historical 
knowledge.  I  am  sure  I  could  have  saved 
this  amount  out  of  any  ten  years  of  my  news- 
paper reading  alone,  without  cutting  off  any 
portion  of  that  really  valuable  contribution  for 
which  the  daily  paper  is  to  be  honored,  and 
which  would  be  needed  to  make  me  an  intelli- 
gent man  in  the  history  of  my  own  times." ' 

It  is  not  necessary  that,  in  selecting  a  library 
or  in  choosing  what  you  will  read,  you  should 
have  many  books  at  your  disposal.  A  few 
books,  well  chosen  and  carefully  read,  will  be 
of  infinitely  more  value  to  you  than  any  mis- 
cellaneous collection,  however  large.  It  is 
possible  for  "  the  man  of  one  book "  to  be 
better  equipped  in  knowledge  and  Uterary 
attainments  than  he  whose  shelves  are  loaded 
with  all  the  fashionable  literature  of  the  day. 
If  your  means  will  not  permit  you  the  luxury 
of  a  library,  buy  one  book,  or  a  few  books, 
chosen  with  special  reference  to  the  line  of 

'   The  Critic  (July  5,  1884),  — "Leisure  Reading." 


THE  CHOICE  OF  BOOKS.  39 

reading  which  you  have  determined  upon. 
Let  no  honey-mouthed  book-agent  persuade 
you  to  buy  of  his  wares,  unless  they  bear  ex- 
actly upon  your  specialty.  You  cannot  afford 
to  waste  money  on  mere  catchpenny  or  ma- 
chine publications,  whose  only  recommenda- 
tion is  that  they  are  harmless  and  that  they  sell 
well.  That  man  is  to  be  envied  who  can  say, 
"  I  have  a  library  of  fifty  or  of  a  hundred 
volumes,  all  relating  to  my  chosen  line  of 
thought,  and  not  a  single  inferior  or  worthless 
volume  among  them." 

I  have  before  me  a  list  of  books,  —  "  books 
fashioned  by  the  intellect  of  godlike  men," 
—  books  which  every  person  who  aspires  to 
the  rank  of  teacher  or  scholar  should  regard 
as  his  inheritance  from  the  master-minds  of 
the  ages.  If  you  know  these  books — or 
some  of  them  —  you  know  much  of  that 
which  is  best  in  the  great  world  of  letters. 
You  cannot  afford  to  live  in  ignorance  of 
them. 

Plato's  Dialogues  (Jowett's  translation). 

The  Orations  of  Demosthenes  on  the  Crown. 

Bacon's  Essays. 

Burke's  Orations  and  Political  Essays. 

Macaulay's  Essays. 

Carlyle's  Essays. 

Webster's  Select  Speeches. 


40  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Emerson's  Essays. 

The  Essays  of  Elia,  by  Charles  Lamb. 

Ivanhoe,  by  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

David  Copperfield,  by  Charles  Dickens. 

Vanity  Fair,  by  William  Makepeace  Thackeray. 

Hypatia,  by  Charles  Kingsley. 

The  Mill  on  the  Floss,  by  George  Eliot. 

The  Marble  Faun,  by  Nathaniel  Hawthorne. 

The  Sketch  Book,  by  Washington  Irving. 

Les  Miserables,  by  Victor  Hugo. 

Wilhelm  Meister,  by  Goethe  (Carlyle's  trans.). 

Don  Quixote,  by  Cervantes. 

Homer's  Iliad(Derby's  or  Chapman's  translation). 

Homer's  Odyssey  (Bryant's  translation). 

Dante's  Divina  Commedia  (Longfellow's  trans.). 

Milton's  Paradise  Lost. 

Shakspeare's  Works. 

Mrs.  Browning's  Poems. 

Longfellow's  Poetical  Works. 

Goethe's  Faust  (Bayard  Taylor's  translation). 

I  have  named  but  twenty-five  authors  ;  but 
each  of  these,  in  his  own  line  of  thought  and 
endeavor,  stands  first  in  the  long  roll  of  im- 
mortals. When  you  have  the  opportunity  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  such  as  these,  will 
you  waste  your  time  with  writers  whom  you 
would  be  ashamed  to  number  among  your 
personal  friends?  "Will  you  go  and  gossip 
with  your  housemaid  or  your  stable  boy, 
when  you  may  talk  with  kings  and  queens, 
while  this  eternal  court  is  open  to  you,  with 
its  society  wide  as  the  world,  multitudinous 


THE  CHOICE  OP  BOOKS.  41 

as  its  days,  the  chosen,  the  mighty,  of  every 
place  and  time?  Into  that  you  may  enter 
always ;  in  that  you  may  take  fellowship  and 
rank  according  to  your  wish ;  from  that,  once 
entered  into  it,  you  can  never  be  outcast  but 
by  your  own  fault;  by  your  aristocracy  of 
companionship  there,  your  inherent  aristoc- 
racy will  be  assuredly  tested,  and  the  motives 
with  which  you  strive  to  take  high  place  in  the 
society  of  the  living,  measured,  as  to  all 
the  truth  and  sincerity  that  are  in  them,  by 
the  place  you  desire  to  take  in  this  company 
of  the  dead." ' 

*  John  Ruskin :  Sesame  and  Lilies. 


CHAPTER    II. 


f^oto  to  EeatJ. 

And  as  for  me,  though  I  con  but  lite, 
On  bookes  for  to  rede  I  me  delite, 
And  to  hem  yeve  I  faith  and  credence, 
And  in  my  herte  have  hem  in  reverence 
So  hertely,  that  there  is  game  none. 
That  from  my  bookes  maketh  me  to  gone, 
But  it  be  seldome  on  the  holy  daie, 
Save  certainly,  whan  that  the  month  of  May 
Is  comen,  and  that  I  heare  the  foules  sing, 
And  that  the  floures  ginnan  for  to  spring, 
Farwell  my  booke,  and  my  devotion. 

Geoffrey  Chaucer. 

HAVING  chosen  the  books  which  are 
to  be  our  friends  and  counsellors, 
the  next  question  to  be  considered 
is,  How  shall  we  use  them  ?  Shall 
we  read  them  through  as  hastily  as  possible, 
believing  that  the  more  we  read,  the  more 
learned  we  are  ?  Or  shall  we  not  derive  more 
profit  by  reading  slowly,  and  by  making  the 
subject-matter  of  each  book  thoroughly  our 
own  ?  I  do  not  believe  that  any  general  rule 
42 


HOW  TO  READ.  43 

can  be  given  with  reference  to  this  matter. 
Some  readers  will  take  in  a  page  at  a  glance, 
and  will  more  thoroughly  master  a  book  in 
a  week  than  others  could  possibly  master  it 
in  six  months.  It  required  Frederick  W. 
Robertson  half  a  year  to  read  a  small  manual 
of  chemistry,  and  thoroughly  to  digest  its  con- 
tents. Miss  Martineau  and  Auguste  Comte 
were  remarkably  slow  readers  ;  but  then,  that 
which  they  read  "  lay  fructifying,  and  came 
out  a  living  tree  with  leaves  and  fruit."  Yet 
it  does  not  follow  that  the  same  rule  should 
apply  to  readers  of  every  grade  of  genius. 

It  is  generally  better  to  read  by  subjects,  to 
learn  what  different  writers  have  thought  and 
said  concerning  that  matter  of  which  you  are 
making  a  special  study.  Not  many  books  are 
to  be  read  hastily  through.  "  A  person  who 
was  a  very  great  reader  and  hard  thinker," 
says  Bishop  Thirlwall,  "  once  told  me  that  he 
never  took  up  a  book  except  with  the  view  of 
making  himself  master  of  some  subject  which 
he  was  studying,  and  that  while  he  was  so 
engaged  he  made  all  his  reading  converge 
to  that  point.  In  this  way  he  might  read 
parts  of  many  books,  but  not  a  single  one 
from  '  end  to  end.'  This  I  take  to  be  an 
excellent  method  of  study,  but    one  which 


44  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

implies  the  command  of  many  boo"ks  as  well 
as  of  much  leisure." 

Seneca,  the  old  Roman  teacher,  says  :  "  Def- 
inite reading  is  profitable  ;  miscellaneous  read- 
ing is  pleasant.  .  .  .  The  reading  of  many 
authors  and  of  all  kinds  of  works  has  in  it 
something  vague  and  unstable." 

Says  Quintilian  :  "  Every  good  writer  is  to 
be  read,  and  diligently;  and  when  the  vol- 
ume is  finished,  it  is  to  be  gone  through  again 
from  the  beginning." 

Martin  Luther,  in  his  "  Table  Talk,"  says  : 
"  All  who  would  study  with  advantage  in  any 
art  whatsoever  ought  to  betake  themselves  to 
the  reading  of  some  sure  and  certain  books 
oftentimes  over;  for  to  read  many  books 
produceth  confusion  rather  than  learning,  like 
as  those  who  dwell  everywhere  are  not  any- 
where at  home." 

"  Reading,"  says  Locke  the  philosopher, 
"  furnishes  the  mind  only  with  materials  of 
knowledge ;  it  is  thinking  that  makes  what 
are  read  over.  We  are  of  the  ruminating 
kind,  and  it  is  not  enough  to  cram  ourselves 
with  a  great  load  of  collections ;  unless  we 
chew  them  over  again,  they  will  not  give  us 
strength  and  nourishment." 

"  Much  reading,"  says  Dr.  Robert  South, 


HOW  TO  EEAD.  45 

"  is  like  much  eating,  —  wholly  useless  with- 
out digestion." 

"  Desultory  reading,"  writes  Julius  C.  Hare, 
"is  indeed  very  mischievous,  by  fostering 
habits  of  loose,  discontinuous  thought,  by 
turning  the  memory  into  a  common  sewer  for 
rubbish  of  all  thoughts  to  flow  through,  and 
by  relaxing  the  power  of  attention,  which  of 
all  our  faculties  most  needs  care,  and  is  most 
improved  by  it.  But  a  well-regulated  course 
of  study  will  no  more  weaken  the  mind  than 
hard  exercise  will  weaken  the  body ;  nor  will 
a  strong  understanding  be  weighed  down  by 
its  knowledge,  any  more  than  oak  is  by  its 
leaves  or  than  Samson  was  by  his  locks.  He 
whose  sinews  are  drained  by  his  hair  must 
already  be  a  weakling."' 

Says  Thomas  Carlyle  :  "  Learn  to  be  good 
readers,  —  which  is  perhaps  a  more  difficult 
thing  than  you  imagine.  Learn  to  be  dis- 
criminative in  your  reading ;  to  read  faith- 
fully, and  with  your  best  attention,  all  kinds 
of  things  which  you  have  a  real  interest  in,  — 
a  real,  not  an  imaginary,  —  and  which  you 
find  to  be  really  fit  for  what  you  are  engaged  in. 
The  most  unhappy  of  all  men  is  the  man  who 
cannot  tell  what  he  is  going  to  do,  who  has 

«  Guesses  at  Truth,  by  Two  Brothers,  1848. 


46  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

got  no  work  cut  out  for  him  in  the  world, 
and  does  not  go  into  it.  For  work  is  the 
grand  cure  of  all  the  maladies  and  miseries 
that  ever  beset  mankind,  —  honest  work, 
which  you  intend  getting  done." 

Says  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  :  "  The  best 
rule  of  reading  will  be  a  method  from  nature, 
and  not  a  mechanical  one  of  hours  and  pages. 
It  holds  each  student  to  a  pursuit  of  his  na- 
tive aim,  instead  of  a  desultory  miscellany. 
Let  him  read  what  is  proper  to  him,  and  not 
waste  his  memory  on  a  crowd  of  mediocrities. 
.  .  .  The  three  practical  rules  which  I  have 
to  offer  are  :  i .  Never  read  any  book  that  is 
not  a  year  old.  2.  Never  read  any  but  famed 
books.  3.  Never  read  any  but  what  you  like  ; 
or,  in  Shakspeare's  phrase,  — 

'  No  profit  goes  where  is  no  pleasure  ta'en  : 
In  brief,  sir,  study  what  you  most  affect.' "  • 

"Let  us  read  good  works  often  over,"  says 
another  writer.^  "  Some  skip  from  volume  to 
volume,  touching  on  all  points,  resting  on 
none.  We  hold,  on  the  contrary,  that  if  a 
book  be  worth  reading  once,  it  is  worth  read- 
ing twice,  and  that  if  it  stands  a  second 
reading,  it  may  stand  a  third.     This,  indeed, 

'  Society  and  Solitude,  —  "  Books." 
*  George  Gilfillan. 


HOW  TO  HEAD.  47 

is  one  great  test  of  the  excellence  of  books. 
Many  books  require  to  be  read  more  than 
once,  in  order  to  be  seen  in  their  proper 
colors  and  latent  glories,  and  dim-discovered 
truths  will  by-and-by  disclose  themselves.  .  .  . 
Again,  let  us  read  thoughtfully  ;  this  is  a  great 
secret  in  the  right  use  of  books.  Not  lazily, 
to  mumble,  like  the  dogs  in  the  siege  of 
Corinth,  as  dead  bones,  the  words  of  the 
author,  —  not  slavishly  to  assent  to  his  every 
word,  and  cry  Amen  to  his  every  conclusion, 
—  not  to  read  him  as  an  officer  his  general's 
orders,  but  to  read  him  with  suspicion,  with 
inquiry,  with  a  free  exercise  of  your  own 
faculties,  with  the  admiration  of  intelligence, 
and  not  with  the  wonder  of  ignorance,  —  that 
is  the  proper  and  profitable  way  of  reading 
the  great  authors  of  your  native  tongue." 

Says  Sir  Arthur  Helps  :  "  There  is  another 
view  of  reading  which,  though  it  is  obvious 
enough,  is  seldom  taken,  I  imagine,  or  at 
least  acted  upon ;  and  that  is,  that  in  the 
course  of  our  reading  we  should  lay  up  in 
our  minds  a  store  of  goodly  thoughts  in  well- 
wrought  words,  which  should  be  a  living 
treasure  of  knowledge  always  with  us,  and 
from  which,  at  various  times  and  amidst  all 
the  shifting  of  circumstances,  we   might  be 


48  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

sure  of  drawing  some  comfort,  guidance,  and 
sympathy.  ...  In  any  work  that  is  worth 
carefully  reading,  there  is  generally  something 
that  is  worth  remembering  accurately.  A 
man  whose  mind  is  enriched  with  the  best 
sayings  of  his  own  country  is  a  more  indepen- 
dent man,  walks  the  streets  in  a  town  or  the 
lanes  in  the  country  with  far  more  delight 
than  he  otherwise  would  have,  and  is  taught 
by  wise  observers  of  man  and  nature  to 
examine  for  himself.  Sancho  Panza,  with  his 
proverbs,  is  a  great  deal  better  than  he  would 
have  been  without  them ;  and  I  contend  that 
a  man  has  something  in  himself  to  meet 
troubles  and  difficulties,  small  or  great,  who 
has  stored  in  his  mind  some  of  the  best  things 
which  have  been  said  about  troubles  and 
difficulties."  ' 

And  John  Ruskin :  "  No  book  is  worth 
anything  which  is  not  worth  much  ;  nor  is  it 
serviceable  until  it  has  been  read,  and  re- 
read, and  loved,  and  loved  again;  and 
marked,  so  that  you  can  refer  to  the  passages 
you  want  in  it,  as  a  soldier  can  seize  the 
weapons  he  needs  in  an  armory,  or  a  house- 
wife bring  the  spice  she  needs  from  her 
store." 

'  Friends  in  Council. 


HOW  TO  READ. 


49 


("  I  am  not  at  all  afraid,"   says   Matthew- 
Browne,  "of  urging  overmuch  the  propriety   , 
of  frequent,   very   frequent,   reading  of  the  / 
same   book.     The  book  remains   the   same,  | 
but  the  reader  changes;  and  the  value  p/fl  % 
reading  lies  in  the  collision  of  minds.     It  may 
be   taken   for    granted    that  no  conceivable 
amount  of  reading  could  ever  put  me  into  the  \ 
position  with  respect  to  his  book  —  I  mean 
as  to  intelligence  only  —  in  which  the  author 
strove  to  place  me.     I  may  read  him  a  hun- 
dred times,  and  not  catch  the  precise  right        "  "^rT^ 
point  of  view ;  and  may  read  him  a  hundred      '•*-'>''-*-*4'. 
and  one  times,  and  approach  it  the  hundred 
and  first.    The  driest  and  hardest  book  that 
ever  was,  contains  an  interest  over  and  above 
what  can  be  picked  out  of  it,  and  laid,  so  to 
speak,  on  the  table.     It  is  interesting  as  my 
friend  is  interesting;  it  is  a  problem    which 
invites   me   to   closer    knowledge,   and   that 
usually  means  better  liking.     He  must  be  a 
poor  friend  that  we  only  care  to  see  once  or 
twice,  and  then  forget."  ' 

"The  great  secret  of  reading  consists  in 
this,"  says  Charles  F.  Richardson,  "  that  it 
does  not  matter  so  much  what  we  read,  or 

'  Views  and  Opinions,  by  Matthew  Browne  (W.  H. 
Rands). 

4 


X^  t 


50  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

how  we  read  it,  as  what  we  think  and  how  we 
think  it.  Reading  is  only  the  fuel ;  and,  the 
mind  once  on  fire,  any  and  all  material  will 
feed  the  flame,  provided  only  it  have  any 
combustible  matter  in  it.  And  we  cannot 
tell  from  what  quarter  the  next  material  will 
come.  The  thought  we  need,  the  facts  we 
are  in  search  of,  may  make  their  appearance 
in  the  corner  of  the  newspaper,  or  in  some 
forgotten  volume  long  ago  consigned  to  dust 
and  oblivion.  .  .  .  The  mind  that  is  not 
awake  and  alive  will  find  a  library  a  barren 
wilderness.  Now,  gather  up  the  scraps  and 
fragments  of  thought  on  whatever  subject 
you  may  be  studying,  —  for  of  course  by  a 
note-book  I  do  not  mean  a  mere  receptacle 
for  odds  and  ends,  a  literary  dust-bin,  —  but 
acquire  the  habit  of  gathering  everything 
whenever  and  wherever  you  find  it,  that  be- 
longs in  your  line  or  lines  of  study,  and  you 
will  be  surprised  to  see  how  such  fragments 
will  arrange  themselves  into  an  orderly  whole 
by  the  very  organizing  power  of  your  own 
thinking,  acting  in  a  definite  direction.  This 
is  a  true  process  of  self-education ;  but  you 
see  it  is  no  mechanical  process  of  mere  ag- 
gregation. It  requires  activity  of  thought ; 
but  without  that,  what   is   any  reading  but 


HOW  TO  READ.  5 1 

mere  passive  amusement?  And  it  requires 
method.  I  have  myself  a  sort  of  literary 
book-keeping.  I  post  my  literary  accounts, 
bringing  together  in  proper  groups  the  fruits 
of  much  casual  reading."  ' 

Edward  Gibbon  the  historian  tells  us  that 
a  taste  for  books  was  the  pleasure  and  glory 
of  his  life.  "  Let  us  read  with  method,"  he 
says,  "and  propose  to  ourselves  an  end  to 
what  our  studies  may  point.  The  use  of 
reading  is  to  aid  us  in  thinking." 

Among  practical  suggestions  to  those  who 
would  read  for  profit,  I  have  found  nothing 
more  pertinent  than  the  following  from  the 
posthumous  papers  of  Bryan  Waller  Procter  : 
"Always  read  the  preface  to  a  book.  It 
places  you  on  vantage  ground,  and  enables 
you  to  survey  more  completely  the  book  it- 
self. You  frequently  also  discover  the  char- 
acter of  the  author  from  the  preface.  You 
see  his  aims,  perhaps  his  prejudices.  You 
see  the  point  of  view  from  which  he  takes 
his  pictures,  the  rocks  and  impediments 
which  he  himself  beholds,  and  you  steer  ac- 
cordingly. .  .  .  Understand  every  word  you 
read ;  if  possible,  every  allusion  of  the  au- 
thor, —  if  practicable,  while  you  are  reading ; 

'   The  Choice  0/  Books. 


52  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

if  not,  make  search  and  inquiry  as  soon  as 
may  be  afterward.  Have  a  dictionary  near 
you  when  you  read ;  and  when  you  read  a 
book  of  travels,  always  read  with  a  map  of 
the  country  at  hand.  Without  a  map  the  in- 
formation is  vague  and  transitory.  .  .  .  After 
having  read  as  much  as  your  mind  will 
easily  retain,  sum  up  what  you  have  read, — 
endeavor  to  place  in  view  the  portion  or  sub- 
ject that  has  formed  your  morning's  study  ; 
and  then  reckon  up  (as  you  would  reckon 
up  a  sum)  the  facts  or  items  of  knowledge 
that  you  have  gained.  It  generally  happens 
that  the  amount  of  three  or  four  hours'  read- 
ing may  be  reduced  to  and  concentrated  in 
half  a  dozen  propositions.  These  are  your 
gains,  —  these  are  the  facts  or  opinions  that 
you  have  acquired.  You  may  investigate 
the  truth  of  them  hereafter.  Although  I 
think  that  one's  general  reading  should  ex- 
tend over  many  subjects,  yet  for  serious 
study  we  should  confine  ourselves  to  some 
branch  of  literature  or  science.  Otherwise 
the  mind  becomes  confused  and  enfeebled, 
and  the  thoughts,  dissipated  on  many  things, 
\vill  settle  profitably  on  none.  A  man  whose 
duration  of  life  is  limited,  and  whose  powers 
are  limited  also,  should  not  aim  at  all  things, 


HO  IV  TO  READ.  53 

but  should  content  himself  with  a  few.  By 
such  means  he  may  master  one,  and  become 
tolerably  familiar  perhaps  with  two  or  three 
ai'ts  or  sciences.  He  may  indeed  even  make 
valuable  contributions  to  them.  Without 
this  economy  of  labor,  he  cannot  produce 
any  complete  work,  nor  can  he  exhaust  any 
subject." ' 

Every  scholar  is  familiar  with  Lord  Bacon's 
classification  of  books,  —  some  "  to  be  tasted, 
others  to  be  swallowed,  and  some  few  to  be 
chewed  and  digested :  that  is,  some  books 
are  to  be  read  only  in  parts ;  others  to  be 
read,  but  not  curiously;  and  some  few  to 
be  read  wholly,  and  with  diligence  and 
attention."  Coleridge's  classification  of  the 
various  kinds  of  readers  is  perhaps  not  quite 
so  well  known.  He  said  that  some  readers 
are  like  jelly-bags,  —  they  let  pass  away  all 
that  is  pure  and  good,  and  retain  only  what 
is  impure  and  refuse.  Another  class  he  typi- 
fied by  a  sponge ;  these  are  they  whose 
minds  suck  all  up,  and  give  it  back  again, 
only  a  little  dirtier.  Others,  again,  he  likened 
to  an  hour-glass,  and  their  reading  to  the  sand 
which  runs  in  and  out,  and  leaves  no  trace 

'  Temple  Bar  (September,  1884),  —  "  Barry  Cornwall 
on  the  Reading  of  Books." 


54 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


behind.  And  still  others  he  compared  to  the 
slave  in  the  Golconda  mines,  who  retains  the 
gold  and  the  gem,  and  casts  aside  the  dust 
and  the  dross.  Charles  C.  Colton,  the  author 
of  "  Lacon,"  says  there  are  three  kinds  of  read- 
ers :  first,  those  who  read  to  think,  —  and  they 
are  rare  ;  second,  those  who  read  to  write,  — 
and  they  are  common ;  third,  those  who  read 
to  talk, —  and  they  form  the  great  majority. 
And  Goethe,  the  greatest  name  in  German 
literature,  makes  still  a  different  classification  : 
some  readers,  he  tells  us,  enjoy  without  judg- 
ment ;  others  judge  without  enjoyment ;  and 
some  there  are  who  judge  while  they  enjoy, 
and  enjoy  while  they  judge. 

In  these  days,  when,  so  far  as  reading- 
matter  is  concerned,  we  are  overburdened 
with  an  embarrassment  of  riches,  we  cannot 
afford  to  read,  even  in  the  books  which  we 
have  chosen  as  ours,  those  things  which  have 
no  relationship  to  our  studies,  which  do  not 
concern  us,  and  which  are  sure  to  be  forgotten 
as  soon  as  read.  The  art  of  reading,  says 
Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton  in  his  admirable 
essay  on  "  The  Intellectual  Life,"  "  is  to  skip 
judiciously.  The  art  is  to  skip  all  that  does 
not  concern  us,  whilst  missing  nothing  that 
we  really  need.     No  external  guidance  can 


HOW  TO  READ.  55 

teach  this ;  for  nobody  but  ourselves  can 
guess  what  the  needs  of  our  intellect  may  be. 
But  let  us  select  with  decisive  firmness,  in- 
dependently of  other  people's  advice,  inde- 
pendently of  the  authority  of  custom."  And 
Charles  F.  Richardson,  referring  to  the  same 
subject,  remarks  :  "  The  art  of  skipping  is, 
in  a  word,  the  art  of  noting  and  shunning  that 
which  is  bad,  or  frivolous,  or  misleading,  or 
unsuitable  for  one's  individual  needs.  If  you 
are  convinced  that  the  book  or  the  chapter  is 
bad,  you  cannot  drop  it  too  quickly.  If  it  is 
simply  idle  and  foolish,  put  it  away  on  that 
account,  —  unless  you  are  properly  seeking 
amusement  from  idleness  and  frivoHty.  If  it 
is  something  deceitful  and  disingenuous,  your 
task  is  not  so  easy ;  but  your  conscience  will 
give  you  warning,  and  the  sharp  examination 
which  should  follow  will  tell  you  that  you  are 
in  poor  literary  company." 


CHAPTER  III. 
©n  t]^e  Falne  anti  Wi&z  of  3Li6rartc0. 

All  round  the  room  my  silent  servants  wait, — 

My  friends  in  every  season,  bright  and  dim 

Angels  and  seraphim 

Come  down  and  murmur  to  me,  sweet  and  low, 

And  spirits  of  the  skies  all  come  and  go 

Early  and  late ; 

From  the  old  world's  divine  and  distant  date. 

From  the  sublimer  few, 

Down  to  the  poet  who  but  yester-eve 

Sang  sweet  and  made  us  grieve, 

All  come,  assembling  here  in  order  due. 

And  here  I  dwell  with  Poesy,  my  mate, 

With  Erato  and  all  her  vernal  sighs. 

Great  Clio  with  her  victories  elate, 

Or  pale  Urania's  deep  and  starry  eyes. 

Bryan  Waller  Procter. 


LIBRARY  is   the   scholar's   work- 
shop.    To  the  teacher  or  profes- 
sional  man,  a   collection  of  good 
books  is  as  necessary  as   a  kit  of 
tools  to  a  carpenter.     And  yet  I  am  aware 
that  many  persons  are  engaged  in  teaching, 
56 


THE  VALUE  AND  USE  OP  LIBRARIES.     57 

who  have  neither  a  library  of  their  own,  nor 
access  to  any  other  collection  of  books  suit- 
able to  their  use.  There  are  others  who, 
having  every  opportunity  to  secure  the  best 
of  books,  —  with  a  public  library  near  at  hand 
offering  them  the  free  use  of  works  most  val- 
uable to  them,  —  yet  make  no  effort  to  profit 
by  these  advantages.  They  care  nothing  for 
any  books  save  the  text-books  indispensable 
to  their  profession,  and  for  these  only  so  far 
as  necessity  obliges  them  to  do  so.  The 
libraries  of  many  persons  calling  themselves 
teachers  consist  solely  of  school-books,  many 
of  which  have  been  presented  them  by  accom- 
modating book-agents,  "  for  examination  with 
a  view  to  introduction."  And  yet  we  hear 
these  teachers  talk  learnedly  about  the  intro- 
duction of  English  literature  into  the  common 
schools  of  the  country,  and  the  necessity  of 
cultivating  among  the  children  a  wholesome 
love  and  taste  for  reading.  If  inquiry  were 
made,  we  might  discover  that  such  persons 
understand  a  study  of  English  literature  to 
consist  simply  of  some  memoriter  exercises  in 
Shaw's  "  Manual  "  or  Brooke's  "  Primer,"  and 
that,  as  to  good  reading,  they  are  oftener  en- 
tertained by  the  cheap  slops  of  the  news- 
stands than  by  the  English  classics.     Talk  not 


58  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

atwut  directing  and  cultivating  the  reading- 
tastes  of  your  pupils  until  you  have  successfully 
directed  and  cultivated  your  own  !  And  the 
first  step  towards  doing  this  is  the  selection 
and  purchase  of  a  library  for  yourself,  which 
shall  be  all  your  own.  A  very  few  books  will 
do,  if  they  are  of  the  right  kind;  and  they 
must  be  yours.  A  borrowed  book  is  but  a 
cheap  pleasure,  an  unappreciated  and  un- 
satisfactory tool.  To  know  the  true  value  of 
books,  and  to  derive  any  satisfactory  benefit 
from  them,  you  must  first  feel  the  sweet  de- 
light of  buying  them,  —  you  must  know  the 
preciousness  of  possession. 

You  plead  poverty,  —  the  insufficiency  of 
your  income  ?  But  do  you  not  spend  for  other 
things,  entirely  unnecessary,  much  more  every 
year  than  the  cost  of  a  few  books  ?  The  im- 
mediate outlay  need  not  be  large,  the  returns 
which  you  will  realize  will  be  great  in  pro- 
portion to  your  good  judgment  and  earnest- 
ness. Not  only  will  the  possession  of  a  good 
library  add  to  your  means  of  enjoyment  and 
increase  your  capacity  for  doing  good,  it  may, 
if  you  are  worldly-minded,  —  and  we  all  are,  — 
put  you  in  the  way  of  occupying  a  more 
desirable  position  and  earning  a  more  satis- 
factory reward  for  your  labors. 


THE  VALUE  AND  USE  OP  LIBRARIES.     59 

There  are  two  kinds  of  books  that  you 
will  need  in  your  library :  first,  those  which 
are  purely  professional,  and  are  in  the  strictest 
sense  the  tools  of  your  craft ;  second,  those 
which  belong  to  your  chosen  department  of 
literature,  and  are  to  be  regarded  as  your 
friends,  companions,  and  counsellors.  I  can- 
not, of  course,  dictate  to  you  what  these 
books  shall  be.  The  lists  given  in  the  chap- 
ters which  follow  this  are  designed  simply  as 
suggestive  aids.  But  in  a  library  of  fifty  or 
even  thirty  well-chosen  volumes  you  may 
possess  infinite  riches,  and  means  for  a  life- 
time of  enjoyment ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
if  your  selection  is  injudicious,  you  may  ex- 
pend thousands  of  dollars  for  a  collection  of 
the  odds  and  ends  of  literature,  which  will  be 
only  an  incumbrance  and  a  hindrance  to  you. 

"  I  would  urge  upon  every  young  man,  as 
the  beginning  of  his  due  and  wise  provision 
for  his  household,"  says  John  Ruskin,  "to 
obtain  as  soon  as  he  can,  by  the  severest 
economy,  a  restricted,  serviceable,  and  stead- 
ily—  however  slowly  —  increasing  series  of 
books  for  use  through  life ;  making  his  little 
library,  of  all  the  furniture  in  his  room,  the 
most  studied  and  decorative  piece ;  every 
volume  having  its  assigned  place,  like  a  little 


60  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Statue  in  its  niche,  and  one  of  the  eariiest  and 
strictest  lessons  to  the  children  of  the  house 
being  how  to  turn  the  pages  of  their  own 
literary  possessions  lightly  and  deliberately, 
with  no  chance  of  tearing  or  dog's-ears." ' 

And  Henry  Ward  Beecher  emphasizes  the 
same  thing,  remarking  that,  among  the  early 
ambitions  to  be  excited  in  clerks,  workmen, 
journeymen,  and  indeed  among  all  that  are 
struggling  up  in  life  from  nothing  to  something, 
the  most  important  is  that  of  forming  and 
continually  adding  to  a  library  of  good  books. 
"  A  little  library,  growing  larger  every  year,  is 
an  honorable  part  of  a  man's  history.  It  is 
a  man's  duty  to  have  books.  A  library  is  not 
a  luxury,  but  one  of  the  necessaries  of  life." 

"How  much  do  you  think  we  spend  al- 
together on  our  libraries,  public  or  private,  as 
compared  with  what  we  spend  on  our  horses  ?  " 
asks  another  enthusiastic  lover  of  books,  al- 
ready quoted.  "  If  a  man  spends  lavishly  on 
his  library,  you  call  him  mad,  —  a  biblio- 
maniac. But  you  never  call  any  one  a  horse- 
maniac,  though  men  ruin  themselves  every 
day  by  their  horses,  and  you  do  not  hear  of 
people  ruining  themselves  by  their  books.  ■  .  . 
We  talk  of  food  for  the  mind,  as  of  food  for 

*  Sesame  and  Lilies. 


THE  VALUE  AND  USE  OP  LIBRARIES.     6 1 

the  body :  now,  a  good  book  contains  such 
food  inexhaustibly;  it  is  a  provision  for  life, 
and  for  the  best  of  us ;  yet  how  long  most 
people  would  look  at  the  best  book  before 
they  would  give  the  price  of  a  large  turbot 
for  it !  Though  there  have  been  men  who 
have  pinched  their  stomachs  and  bared  their 
backs  to  buy  a  book,  whose  Ubraries  were 
cheaper  to  them,  I  think,  in  the  end  than 
most  men's  dinners  are.  We  are  few  of  us 
put  to  such  trial,  and  more  the  pity :  for, 
indeed,  a  precious  thing  is  all  the  more  pre- 
cious to  us  if  it  has  been  won  by  work  or 
economy ;  and  if  public  libraries  were  half  as 
costly  as  public  dinners,  or  books  cost  the 
tenth  part  of  what  bracelets  do,  even  foolish 
men  and  women  might  sometimes  suspect 
there  was  good  in  reading,  as  well  as  in 
munching  and  sparkling ;  whereas  the  very 
cheapness  of  Uterature  is  making  even  wise 
people  forget  that  if  a  book  is  worth  reading, 
it  is  worth  buying." 

"  The  truest  owner  of  a  library,"  says  the  au- 
thor of  "  Hesperides,"  "  is  he  who  has  bought 
each  book  for  the  love  he  bears  to  it,  —  who 
is  happy  and  content  to  say,  '  Here  are  my 
jewels,  my  choicest  material  possessions  ! '  — 
who  is  proud  to  crown  such  assertion  thus : 


62  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

'  I  am  content  that  this  library  shall  rep- 
resent the  use  of  the  talents  given  me  by 
Heaven  ! '  That  man's  library,  though  not 
commensurate  with  his  love  for  books,  will 
demonstrate  what  he  has  been  able  to  ac- 
complish with  his  resources ;  it  will  denote 
economy  of  living,  eagerness  to  possess  the 
particles  that  compose  his  library,  and  quick 
watchfulness  to  seize  them  when  means  and 
opportunities  serve.  Such  a  man  has  built 
a  temple,  of  which  each  brick  has  been  the 
subject  of  curious  and  acute  intelligent  exam- 
ination and  appreciation  before  it  has  been 
placed  in  the  sacred  building." 

"  Every  man  should  have  a  library ! " 
exclaims  William  Axon.  *'  The  works  of  the 
grandest  masters  of  literature  may  now  be 
procured  at  prices  that  place  them  within  the 
reach  almost  of  the  very  poorest,  and  we 
may  all  put  Parnassian  singing-birds  into  our 
chambers  to  cheer  us  with  the  sweetness  of 
their  songs.  And  when  we  have  got  our  little 
library  we  may  look  proudly  at  Shakspeare 
and  Bacon  and  Banyan,  as  they  stand  in  our 
bookcase  with  other  noble  spirits,  and  one  or 
two  of  whom  the  world  knows  nothing,  but 
whose  worth  we  have  often  tested.  These 
may  cheer  and  enlighten  us,  may  inspire  us 


THE  VALUE  AND  USE  OF  LIBRARIES.    63 

with  higher  aims  and  aspirations,  may  make 
us,  if  we  use  them  rightly,  wiser  and  better 
men."' 

Good  old  George  Dyer,  the  friend  of  the 
poet  Southey,  as  learned  as  he  was  benev- 
olent, was  wont  to  say :  "  Libraries  are  the 
wardrobes  of  literature,  whence  men,  properly 
informed,  may  bring  forth  something  for  or- 
nament, much  for  curiosity,  and  more  for 
use."  "  Any  library  is  an  attraction,"  says  the 
venerable  A.  Bronson  Alcott;  and  Victor 
Hugo  writes :  — 

"  A  library  implies  an  act  of  faith. 
Which  generations  still  in  darkness  hid 
Sign  in  their  night  in  witness  of  the  dawn." 

John  Bright,  the  great  English  statesman 
and  reformer,  in  a  speech  at  the  opening  of 
the  Birmingham  Free  Library  a  short  time 
ago,  remarked :  "  You  may  have  in  a  house 
costly  pictures  and  costly  ornaments,  and  a 
great  variety  of  decoration ;  yet,  so  far  as  my 
judgment  goes,  I  would  prefer  to  have  one 
comfortable  room  well  stocked  with  books  to 
all  you  can  give  me  in  the  way  of  decoration 
which  the  highest  art  can  supply.  The  only 
subject  of  lamentation  is  —  one  feels  that 

'  Meliora  (October,  1867). 


64  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

always,  I  think,  in  the  presence  of  a  library  — 
that  life  is  too  short,  and  I  am  afraid  I  must 
say  also  that  our  industry  is  so  far  deficient 
that  we  seem  to  have  no  hope  of  a  full  en- 
joyment of  the  ample  repast  that  is  spread 
before  us.  In  the  houses  of  the  humble  a 
little  library,  in  my  opinion,  is  a  most  precious 
possession." 

Jean  Paul  Richter,  it  is  said,  was  always 
melancholy  in  a  large  library,  because  it  re- 
minded him  of  his  ignorance. 

"  A  library  may  be  regarded  as  the  solemn 
chamber  in  which  a  man  can  take  counsel  of 
all  that  have  been  wise  and  great  and  good 
and  glorious  amongst  the  men  that  have  gone 
before  him,"  said  George  Dawson,  also  at 
Birmingham.  "  If  we  come  down  for  a  mo- 
ment and  look  at  the  bare  and  immediate 
utilities  of  a  library,  we  find  that  here  a  man 
gets  himself  ready  for  his  calling,  arms  him- 
self for  his  profession,  finds  out  the  facts  that 
are  to  determine  his  trade,  prepares  himself 
for  his  examination.  The  utilities  of  it  are 
endless  and  priceless.  It  is,  too,  a  place  of 
pastime;  for  man  has  no  amusement  more 
innocent,  more  sweet,  more  gracious,  more 
elevating,  and  more  fortifying  than  he  can 
find  in  a  library.     If  he  be  fond  of  books, 


THE  VALUE  AND  USE  OF  LIBRARIES.     65 

his  fondness  will  discipline  him  as  well  as 
amuse  him.  ...  A  library  is  the  strengthener 
of  all  that  is  great  in  life,  and  the  repeller  of 
what  is  petty  and  mean  ;  and  half  the  gossip 
of  society  would  perish  if  the  books  that  are 
truly  worth  reading  were  read.  .  .  .  When  we 
look  through  the  houses  of  a  large  part  of  the 
middle  classes  of  this  country,  we  find  there 
everything  but  what  there  ought  most  to  be. 
There  are  no  books  in  them  worth  talking  of. 
If  a  question  arises  of  geography,  they  have  no 
atlases.  If  the  question  be  when  a  great  man 
was  born,  they  cannot  help  you.  They  can 
give  you  a  gorgeous  bed,  with  four  posts, 
marvellous  adornments,  luxurious  hangings, 
and  lacquered  shams  all  round ;  they  can 
give  you  dinners  ad  nauseam,  and  wine  that 
one  can,  or  cannot,  honestly  praise.  But  use- 
ful books  are  almost  the  last  things  that  are  to 
be  found  there  ;  and  when  the  mind  is  empty 
of  those  things  that  books  can  alone  fill  it 
with,  then  the  seven  devils  of  pettiness,  fri- 
volity, fashionableness,  gentility,  scandal,  small 
slander,  and  the  chronicling  of  small  beer 
come  in  and  take  possession.  Half  this 
nonsense  would  be  dropped  if  men  would 
only  understand  the  elevating  influences  of 
their  communing  constantly  with  the  lofty 
•       5 


66  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

thoughts   and   high  resolves  of  men  of  old 
times." 

The  author  of  "  Dreamthorpe,"  filled  with 
love  and  enthusiasm,  discourses  thus  :  "  I  go 
into  my  library,  and  all  history  unrolls  before 
me.  I  breathe  the  morning  air  of  the  world 
while  the  scent  of  Eden's  roses  yet  lingers  in 
it,  while  it  vibrates  only  to  the  world's  first 
brood  of  nightingales  and  to  the  laugh  of 
Eve.  I  see  the  pyramids  building;  I  hear 
the  shoutings  of  the  armies  of  Alexander ;  I 
feel  the  ground  shake  beneath  the  march  of 
Cambyses.  I  sit  as  in  a  theatre,  —  the  stage 
is  time ;  the  play  is  the  play  of  the  world. 
What  a  spectacle  it  is !  What  kingly  pomp, 
what  processions  file  past,  what  cities  burn  to 
heaven,  what  crowds  of  captives  are  dragged 
at  the  chariot  wheels  of  conquerors  !  I  hiss, 
or  cry  *  Bravo,'  when  the  great  actors  come 
on,  shaking  the  stage.  I  am  a  Roman  em- 
peror when  I  look  at  a  Roman  coin.  I  hft 
Homer,  and  I  shout  with  Achilles  in  the 
trenches.  The  silence  of  the  unpeopled  As- 
syrian plains,  the  out-comings  and  in-goings  of 
the  patriarchs,  —  Abraham  and  Ishmael,  Isaac 
in  the  fields  at  eventide,  Rebekah  at  the  well, 
Jacob's  guile,  Esau's  face  reddened  by  desert 
sun-heat,  Joseph's  splendid  funeral  procession, 


THE  VALUE  AND  USE  OP  LIBRARIES.     6  J 

—  all  these  things  I  find  within  the  boards  of 
my  Old  Testament.     What  a  silence  in  those 
old  books  as  of  a  half-peopled  world,  —  what 
bleating  of  flocks,  what  green  pastoral  rest, 
what  indubitable   human  existence  !     Across 
brawling  centuries  of  blood  and  war,  I  hear 
the  bleating  of  Abraham's  flocks,  the  tinkling 
of  the  bells   of  Rebekah's  camels.     O   men 
and  women,  so  far  separated  yet  so  near,  so 
strange  yet  so  well-known,  by  what  miraculous 
power  do  I  know  you  all  ?   Books  are  the  true 
Elysian  fields,  where  the  spirits  of  the  dead 
converse  ;  and  into  these  fields  a  mortal  may 
venture  unappalled.     What  king's  court  can 
boast  such  company?     What  school  of  phi- 
losophy, such  wisdom?    The  wit  of  the  an- 
cient world  is  glancing  and  flashing   there. 
There  is  Pan's  pipe,  there  are  the  songs  of 
Apollo.     Seated  in  my  library  at  night,  and 
looking  on  the  silent  faces  of  my  books,  I  am 
occasionally  visited  by  a  strange  sense  of  the 
supernatural.      They  are   not   collections   of 
printed  pages,  they  are  ghosts.     I  take  one 
down,  and  it  speaks  with  me  in  a  tongue  not 
now  heard  on  earth,  and  of  men  and  things 
of  which  it  alone  possesses  knowledge.      I 
call  myself  a  solitary,  but  sometimes  I  think 
I  misapply  the  term.      No  man  sees  more 


68 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


company  than  I  do.  I  travel  with  mightier 
cohorts  around  me  than  did  ever  Timour  or 
Genghis  Khan  on  their  fiery  marches.  I  am 
a  sovereign  in  my  Hbrary ;  but  it  is  the  dead, 
not  the  hving,  that  attend  my  levees." 


CHAPTER  IV. 
Booka  for  ebcrg  .Scfjolar. 

These  books  of  mine,  as  you  well  know,  are  not  drawn 
up  here  for  display,  however  much  the  pride  of  the  eye 
may  be  gratified  in  beholding  them ;  they  are  on  actual 
service. — Southey. 


O  assist  teachers  and  scholars,  and 
those  who  aspire  to  become  such, 
in  making  judicious  selection  of 
world-famous  books  for  their  libra- 
ries, I  submit  the  following  list,  which  includes 
the  greater  part  of  all  that  is  the  very  best  and 
the  most  enduring  in  our  language.  It  is  not 
intended  to  embrace  professional  works,  nor 
works  suited  merely  for  students  of  specialties. 
The  books  named  are  such  as  will  grace  the 
library  of  any  scholar,  no  matter  what  his 
profession  or  his  preferences  ;  they  are  books 
which  every  teacher  ought  to  know ;  they  are 
books  of  which  no  one  can  ever  feel  ashamed. 

69 


70  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

"The  first  thing  naturally,  when  one  enters 
a  scholar's  study  or  library,"  says  Holmes,  "  is 
to  look  at  his  books.  One  gets  a  notion  very 
speedily  of  his  tastes  and  the  range  of  his 
pursuits  by  a  glance  round  his  book-shelves." 
And,  take  my  word  for  it,  if  you  want  a  library 
of  which  you  will  be  proud,  you  cannot  be 
too  careful  as  to  the  character  of  the  books 
you  put  in  it. 

POETRY. 

Chaucer's  Poetical  Works,  or,  if  not  the  complete 
works,  at  least  the  "  Canterbury  Tales."  In 
speaking  of  the  great  works  in  English  Poetry, 
it  is  natural  to  mention  Chaucer  first,  although, 
as  a  general  rule,  he  should  be  one  of  the  last 
read.  "  It  is  sufficient  to  say,  according  to  the 
proverb,  that  here  is  God'' s  plenty ^  —  Dryden. 

Spenser's  Faerie  Qiieene,  not  to  be  read  through,  but 
in  selections.  "  We  can  scarcely  comprehend 
how  a  perusal  of  the  Faerie  Queene  can  fail  to  in- 
sure to  the  true  believer  a  succession  of  halcyon 
days." —  Hazlitt. 

The  Works  of  William  Shakspeare.  The  following 
editions  of  Shakspeare  have  been  issued  within 
the  present  century:  The  first  Variorum  (1813); 
The  Variorum  (1821)  ;  Singer's  (10  vols.  1826)  ; 
Knight's  (8  vols.  1841);  Collier's  (8  vols.  1844); 
Verplanck's  (3  vols.  1847);  Hudson's  (11  vols. 
1857) ;  Dyce's  (6  vols.  1867) ;  Mary  Cowden 
Clarke's  (2  vols,  i860)  ;  R.  G.  White's  (12  vols. 
1862);  Clark  and  Wright's  (9  vols.  1866);  The 


BOOKS  FOR  EVERY  SCHOLAR.  71 

Leopold   Edition    (i    vol.    1877);   The    Harvard 
Edition  (20  vols.  18S1);  The  Variorum  ( —  vols. 
1871 — );  Rolfe's  School  Shakspeare  (1872-81); 
Hudson's  School  Shakspeare.     "Above  all  poets, 
the  mysterious  dual  of  hard  sense  and  empyrean 
fancy."  —  Lord  Lytton. 
Ben  Jonson^s  Dramatic  and  Poetical  Works,  to  bq 
read  also  in  selections.     "  O  rare  Ben  Jonson  !  " 
Christopher  Marlowe's   Dramatic    Works,    especially 
"  Tamburlaine,"  "  Doctor   Faustus,"    and  "  The 
Jew  of  Malta."     "  He  had  in  him  all  those  brave 
translunary    things    which    the    first    poets    did 
have."  —  Drayton. 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  and  especially  "  The  Faith- 
ful Shepherdess,"  a  play  "  very  characteristic  of 
Fletcher,  being  a  mixture  of  tenderness,  purity, 
indecency,  and  absurdity."  —  Hallam. 
John  Webster's   Tragedies.     "  To  move  a  horror  skil- 
fully, to  touch  a  soul  to  the  quick,  to  lay  upon 
fear  as  much  as  it  can  bear,  to  wean  and  weary 
a  life  till  it  is  ready  to  drop,  and  then  step  in  with 
mortal   instruments  to  take  its  last  forfeit :  this 
only  a  Webster  can  do."  —  Charles  Lamb. 
George  Herbert's  Poems.     "  In  George  Herbert  there  is 
poetry,  and  enough  to  spare ;  it  is  the  household 
bread  of  his  existence."  —  George  MacDonald. 
Milton's  Poetical  Works.     The  "  Paradise  Lost "  was 
mentioned  in  the  former  list ;  but  you  cannot  well 
do   without    his    shorter   poems   also.     "  Milton 
almost  requires  a  solemn  service  of  music  to  be 
played  before  you  enter  upon  him."  —  Charles 
Lamb. 
Pope's  Poetical  Works.    "  Come  we  now  to  Pope,  that 
prince  of  sayers  of  acute  and  exquisite  things."  — 
Robert  Chambers. 
Dryden^s  Poems.     "  Dryden  is  even  better  than  Pope. 
He  has  immense  masculine  energies." —  Ibid. 


7-2  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Goldsmith'' s  Select  Poems.  "No  one  like  Goldsmith 
knew  how  to  be  at  once  natural  and  exquisite, 
innocent  and  wise,  a  man  and  still  a  child."  — 
Edward  Dowden. 

TTie  Poems  of  Robert  Burns.  "  Burns  should  be  my 
stand-by  of  a  winter  night."  —  J.  H.  Morse. 

Wordsioorth' s  Select  Poems.  "  Nearest  of  all  mod- 
ern writers  to  Shakspeare  and  Milton,  yet  in 
a  kind  perfectly  unborrowed  and  his  own."  — 
Coxeridge. 

TAe  Poems  of  Sir  Walter  Scott.  "  Walter  Scott 
ranks  in  imaginative  power  hardly  below  any 
writer  save  Homer  and  Shakspeare."  —  Goldwin 
Smith. 

The  Poems  of  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning.  "  Mrs. 
Browning's  '  Aurora  Leigh '  is,  as  far  as  I  know, 
the  greatest  poem  which  the  century  has  pro- 
duced in  any  language."  —  Ruskin. 

Coleridge's  Select  Poems.  "The  Ancient  Mariner," 
" Christabel,"  and  "Genevieve."  "These  might 
be  bound  up  in  a  volume  of  twenty  pages,  but 
they  should  be  bound  in  pure  gold."  —  Stopford 
Brooke. 

The  Poems  of  John  Keats.  "  No  one  else  in  English 
poetry,  save  Shakspeare,  has  in  expression  quite 
the  fascinating  felicity  of  Keats,  his  perfection  of 
loveliness." — Matthew  Arnold. 

The  Christian  Year,  by  John  Keble.  "  I  am  not  a 
churchman, —  I  don't  believe  in  planting  oaks  in 
flower-pots,  —  but  such  a  poem  as  '  The  Rosebud ' 
makes  one  a  proselyte  to  the  culture  it  grows 
from."  —  Dr.  Holmes. 
Tennyson's  Poems.  "  Tennyson  is  a  born  poet,  that 
is,  a  builder  of  airy  palaces  and  imaginary  castles  ; 
he  has  chosen  amongst  all  forms  the  most  elegant, 
ornate,  exquisite."  —  M.  Taine. 
Longfellow's  Poetical  Works.     "In  the  pure,  amia- 


BOOKS  FOR  EVERY  SCHOLAR.  73 

ble,  home-like  qualities  that  reach  the  heart  and 
captivate  the  ear,  no  one  places  Longfellow 
second."  —  The  Critic. 

Bryanfs  Poetical  Works.  "  The  great  characteristics 
of  Bryant's  poetry  are  its  strong  common-sense, 
its  absolute  sanity,  and  its  inexhaustible  imagi- 
nation."—  R.  H.  Stoddard. 

The  Poems  of  John  G.  Whittier.  "  The  lyric  poet  of 
America,  his  poems  are  in  the  broadest  sense 
national."  —  Anon. 

In  addition  to  the  works  named  above, 
there  are  several  collections  of  short  poems 
and  selections  of  poetry  invaluable  to  the 
student.  They  are  "  infinite  riches  in  little 
room."     I  name  :  — 

Bryant's  Library  of  Poetry  and  Song. 

Emerson's  Parnassus. 

Ward's  English  Poets. 

Piatt's  American  Poetry  and  Art. 

Appleton's  Library  of  British  Poetry. 

Palgrave's  Golden  Treasury. 

"  A  large  part  of  what  is  best  worth  know- 
ing in  ancient  literature,  and  in  the  literature 
of  France,  Italy,  Germany,  and  Spain,"  says 
Lord  Macaulay,  "  has  been  translated  into  our 
own  tongue.  I  would  not  dissuade  any  per- 
son from  studying  either  the  ancient  languages 
or  the  languages  of  modem  Europe ;  but  I 
would  console  those  who  have  not  time  to 
make  themselves  linguists  by  assuring  them 


74  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

that,  by  means  of  their  own  mother  tongue, 
they  may  obtain  ready  access  to  vast  in- 
tellectual treasures,  to  treasures  such  as  might 
have  been  envied  by  the  greatest  linguists  of 
the  age  of  Charles  the  Fifth,  to  treasures  sur- 
passing those  which  were  possessed  by  Aldus, 
by  Erasmus,  and  by  Melanchthon." 

I  name  some  of  the  treasures  which  you 
may  thus  acquire  :  — 

Homer''s  Iliad.  Of  this  work,  without  which  no 
scholar's  library  is  complete,  many  translations 
have  been  made.  The  most  notable  are  George 
Chapman's  (1611),  Pope's  (1715),  Tickell's  (1715), 
Cowper's  (1781),  Lord  Derby's  (1867),  Bryant's 
( 1870).  Americans  will,  of  course,  prefer  Bryant's 
translation;  but  Derby's  is  more  poetical,  and 
the  greatest  scholars  award  the  palm  of  merit  to 
Chapman.  Says  Lowell :  "  Chapman  has  made 
.  for  us  the  best  poem  that  has  yet  been  Englished 
out  of  Homer." 

^schylus.  "  Prometheus  Bound  "  has  been  ren- 
dered into  English  verse  by  Elizabeth  Barrett 
Browning,  "Agamemnon"  has  been  translated 
by  Dean  Milman,  and  the  entire  seven  tragedies 
by  Dean  Potter.  "  The  '  Prometheus '  is  a  poem 
of  the  like  dignity  and  scope  as  the  Book  of  Job, 
or  the  Norse  Edda."  —  Emerson. 

Aristophanes.  The  translation  by  John  Hookham 
Frere  is  admirable.  "  We  might  apply  to  the 
pieces  of  Aristophanes  the  motto  of  a  pleasant 
and  acute  adventurer  in  Goethe :  '  Mad,  but 
clever.'  "  —  A.  W.  Schlegel. 

VirgiPs  ^neid.  The  best  known  translations  of 
Virgil  are   Dryden's  (1697),   Christopher   Pitt's 


BOOKS  FOR  EVERY  SCHOLAR.  75 

(1740),  John  Conington's  (1870),  William  Mor- 
ris's (1876).  Your  choice  among  these  will  lie 
between  the  last  two.  "  Virgil  is  far  below  Ho- 
mer; yet  Virgil  has  genius  enough  to  be  two 
men."  —  Lord  Lytton. 

Horace's  Odes,  Epodes,  and  Satires.  There  are  ex-  l^ 
cellent  translations  by  Conington,  Lord  Lytton, 
and  T.  Martin.  "There  is  Horace,  charming 
man  of  the  world,  who  will  condole  with  you 
feelingly  on  the  loss  of  your  fortune,  .  .  .  but 
who  will  yet  show  you  that  a  man  may  be  happy 
with  a  vile  modicum  or  parva  rura." —  Ibid. 

Dante's  Divina   Commedia.     Translated  by   Long-  ^^ 
fellow.     "  The  finest  narrative  poem  of  modern 
times."  —  Macaulay.  * 

Goethe's  Faust.  Translated  by  Bayard  Taylor.  "  What 
constitutes  Goethe's  glory  is,  that  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  he  did  produce  an  epic  poem  — 
I  mean  a  poem  in  which  genuine  gods  act  and 
speak."  —  H.  A.  Taine. 

Of  the  best  poetry  written  in  the  modem 
foreign  tongues,  you  will  have  no  difficulty 
in  finding  excellent  translations.  There  are 
good  English  editions  of  Dante,  Petrarch, 
Ariosto,  and  Tasso ;  of  Calderon  and  Cam- 
oens;  of  Molifere,  Corneille,  Racine,  and 
Victor  Hugo ;  and  of  Goethe  and  Schiller. 
And  to  make  your  collection  complete  for 
all  the  purposes  of  a  scholar,  you  will  want 
Longfellow's  "Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe," 
containing  translations  of  the  best  short  poems 
written  in  the  modem  European  languages. 


1/ 


76  TliE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Of  modern  poetry,  John  Ruskin  advises 
beginners  to  "keep  to  Scott,  Wordsworth, 
Keats,  Crabbe,  Tennyson,  the  two  Brownings, 
Lowell,  Longfellow,  and  Coventry  Patmore, 
whose  *  Angel  in  the  House '  is  a  most  finished 
piece  of  writing,  and  the  sweetest  analysis  we 
possessof  quiet  modern  domestic  feeling.  .  .  . 
Cast  Coleridge  at  once  aside  as  sickly  and 
useless  ;  and  Shelley  as  shallow  and  verbose  ; 
Byron,  until  your  taste  is  fully  formed,  and 
you  are  able  to  discern  the  magnificence  in 
him  from  the  wrong.  Never  read  bad  or 
common  poetry,  nor  write  any  poetry  your- 
self; there  is,  perhaps,  rather  too  much  than 
too  little  in  the  world  already." 

Says  Frederic  Harrison :  "  I  am  for  the 
school  of  all  the  great  men ;  and  I  am  against 
the  school  of  the  smaller  men.  I  care  for 
^^'o^dsworth  as  well  as  for  Byron,  for  Burns 
as  well  as  for  Shelley,  for  Boccaccio  as  well  as 
for  Milton,  for  Bunyan  as  well  as  Rabelais,  for 
Cervantes  as  much  as  for  Dante,  for  Corneille 
as  well  as  for  Shakspeare,  for  Goldsmith  as 
well  as  Goethe.  I  stand  by  the  sentence  of 
the  world ;  and  I  hold  that  in  a  matter  so 
human  and  so  broad  as  the  highest  poetry, 
the  judgment  of  the  nations  of  Europe  is 
pretty  well  settled.  .  .  .  The  busy  world  may 


BOOKS  FOR  EVERY  SCHOLAR.  77 

fairly  reserve  the  lesser  lights  for  the  time 
when  it  knows  the  greatest  well.  .  .  .  Nor 
shall  we  forget  those  wonderful  idealizations 
of  awakening  thought  and  primitive  societies, 
the  pictures  of  other  races  and  types  of  life 
removed  from  our  own  :  all  those  primeval 
legends,  ballads,  songs,  and  tales,  those  prov- 
erbs, apologues,  and  maxims  which  have  come 
down  to  us  from  distant  ages  of  man's  history, 
—  the  old  idyls  and  myths  of  the  Hebrew 
race  ;  the  tales  of  Greece,  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
of  the  East;  the  fables  of  the  old  and  the 
new  world ;  the  songs  of  the  Nibelungs ;  the 
romances  of  early  feudalism ;  the  '  Morte 
d'Arthur  ' ;  the  'Arabian  Nights  ; '  the  ballads 
of  the  early  nations  of  Europe." 

PROSE. 

In  the  following  list  I  shall  endeavor  to 
name  only  the  truly  great  and  time-abiding 
books,  —  books  to  be  used  not  simply  as 
tools,  but  for  the  "  building  up  of  a  lofty  char- 
acter," the  turning  of  the  soul  inward  upon  it- 
self, concentrating  its  forces,  and  fitting  it  for 
greater  and  stronger  achievements.  They 
embody  the  best  thoughts  of  the  best  thinkers  ; 
and  almost  any  one  of  them,  if  properly  read 


78  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

and  "energized  upon,"  will  furnish  food  for 
study,  and  meditation,  and  mind-growth, 
enough  for  the  best  of  us. 

Essays,  etc. 

The  W&rks  of  Lord  Bacon.  (Popular  edition.)  "He 
seemed  to  me  ever,  by  his  work,  one  of  the  great- 
est men,  and  most  worthy  of  admiration,  that  had 
been  in  many  ages."  —  Ben  Jonson. 

Religio  Medici,  by  Sir  Thomas  Browne.  "  One  of  the 
most  beautiful  prose  poems  in  the  language."  — 
Lord  Lytton. 

The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  by  Robert  Burton.  By- 
ron says  that  "if  the  reader  has  patience  to  go 
through  the  '  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,'  he  will  be 
more  improved  for  literary  conversation  than  by 
the  perusal  of  any  twenty  other  works  with  which 
I  am  acquainted." 

Montaigne^s  Essays.  (Best  edition.)  "Montaigne 
comes  in  for  a  large  share  of  the  scholar's  regard  ; 
opened  anywhere,  his  page  is  sensible,  marrowy, 
quotable."  —  A.  Bronson  Alcott. 

Areopagitica,  by  John  Milton.  "  A  sublime  treatise, 
which  every  statesman  should  wear  as  a  sign  upon 
his  hand  and  as  frontlets  between  his  eyes."  — 
Macaulay. 

The  Spectator.  "  The  talk  of  Addison  and  Steele  is 
the  brightest  and  easiest  talk  that  was  ever  put  in 
print."  —  John  Richard  Green. 

Burke's  Orations  and  Political  Essays.  "  In  ampli- 
tude of  comprehension  and  richness  of  imagina- 
tion, Burke  was  superior  to  every  orator,  ancient 
or  modern."  —  Lord  Macaulay. 

Webster's  Best  Speeches.  "  But  after  all  is  said,  we 
come  back  to  the  simple  statement  that  he  was 


BOOKS  FOR  EVERY  SCHOLAR.  79 

a  very  great  man ;  intellectually,  one  of  the  great- 
est men  of  his  age."  —  Henry  Cabot  Lodge. 

The  Orations  of  Demosthenes.  A  good  translation  is 
that  of  Kennedy  in  Bohn's  Classical  Library. 

Cicero's  Orations ;  also  Cicero's  Offices,  Old  Age, 
Friendship,  etc. 

PhctarcVs  Lives.  Arthur  Hugh  Clough's  revision 
of  Dryden's  Plutarch.  "  Without  Plutarch,  no 
library  were  complete."  —  A.  Bronson  Al- 
COTT. 

The  Six  Chief  Lives  from  "jfohnson's  Lives  of  the  Poets, 
edited  by  Matthew  Arnold. 

BoswelVs  Life  of  Samuel  yohnson.  "  Scarcely  since 
the  days  of  Homer  has  the  feat  been  equalled; 
indeed,  in  many  senses,  this  also  is  a  kind  of 
heroic  poem."  —  Carlyle. 

Charles  Lamb^s  Essays.  "  People  never  weary  of 
reading  Charles  Lamb."  —  Alexander  Smith. 

Carlyle's  Worhs.  "  No  man  of  his  generation  has 
done  as  much  to  stimulate  thought."  —  Alfred 
Guernsey. 

Macaiday's  Essays.  "  I  confess  to  a  fondness  for 
books  of  this  kind."  —  H.  A.  Taine. 

Fronde's  Short  Studies  on  Great  Subjects.  "  Models 
of  style  and  clear-cut  thought."  —  Anon.  . 

The  Works  of  Washington  Irving.  "  In  the  depart- 
ment of  pure  literature  the  earliest  classic  writer 
of  America." 

The  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast-Table,  by  Oliver  Wen- 
dell Holmes.  "Something  more  than  an  essayist; 
he  is  contemplative,  discursive,  poetical,  thought- 
ful, philosophical,  amusing,  imaginative,  tender 
—  never  didactic." —  Mackenzie. 

Emerson's  Essays.  "  A  diction  at  once  so  rich  and 
so  homely  as  his,  I  know  not  where  to  match  in 
these  days  of  writing  by  the  page ;  it  is  like  home- 
spun cloth-of-gold."  —  J.  R.  Lowell. 


8o  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

FICTION. 

The  novel,  in  its  best  form,  I  regard  as  one 
of  the  most  powerful  engines  of  civilization 
ever  invented.  g^^  j^„^  Hbrschel. 

Novels  are  sweets.  All  people  with  healthy 
literary  appetites  love  them,  —  almost  all  wo- 
men; a  vast  number  of  clever,  hard-headed 
men,  judges,  bishops,  chancellors,  mathema- 
ticians, are  notorious  novel-readers,  as  well  as 
young  boys  and  sweet  girls,  and  their  kind, 
tender  mothers.  ^   m.  Thackeray. 

Robinson  Crusoe,  by  Daniel  Defoe.  " '  Robinson 
Crusoe  '  contains  (not  for  boys,  but  for  men)  more 
religion,  more  philosophy,  more  psychology,  more 
political  economy,  more  anthropology,  than  are 
found  in  many  elaborate  treatises  on  these  special 
subjects."  —  F.  Harrison. 

Don  Qtdxote  de  la  Mancha,  by  Cervantes.  "  The  work 
of  Cervantes  is  the  greatest  in  the  world  after 
Homer's  Iliad,  speaking  of  it,  I  mean,  as  a  work 
of  entertainment."  — Dr.  Johnson. 

Gulliver's  Travels,  by  Dean  Swift.  "  Not  so  indis- 
pensable, but  yet  the  having  him  is  much  to  be 
rejoiced  in."  —  R.  Chambers. 

The  Vicar  of  Wakefield,  by  Goldsmith.  "  The  blot- 
ting out  of  the  '  Vicar  of  Wakefield,'  from  most 
minds,  would  be  more  grievous  than  to  know  that 
the  island  of  Borneo  had  sunk  in  the  sea."  — 
Ibid. 


BOOKS  FOR  EVERY  SCHOLAR.  8 1 

The  Waverley  N'ovels.  If  not  all,  at  least  the  follow- 
ing Tlvanhoe;  The  Talisman;  Kenilworth;  The 
Monastery;  The  Abbot;  Old  Mortality;  The 
Antiquary ;  Guy  Mannering  ;  The  Bride  of  Lam- 
mermoor;  The  Heart  of  Midlothian. 
Cooper's  Leather-Stocking  Tales. 

Dickens's  Novels.     Not  all,  but  the  following  :  David 

Copperfield;  Dombey  and   Son;  Nicholas  Nick- 

leby;   Old    Curiosity   Shop;   Oliver   Twist;   and 

The  Pickwick  Papers. 

Thackeray's  Novels.     Vanity  Fair ;  Pendennis  ;  The 

Newcomes  ;  The  Virginians  ;  Henry  Esmond. 
George  Eliot's  N'ovels.    ^Adam   Bede  ;'^The  Mill  on 
the      Floss ;     Romola ;     Middlemarch ;     Daniel 
Deronda. 
Corinne,  by  Madame  de  Stael. 

^  Telemachus,  by   Fenelon.      (Hawkesworth's   trans- 
lation.) 
/Tom  Jones,  by  Fielding.     "  We  read  his  books  as 
we   drink  a  pure,  wholesome,   and  rough   wine, 
which  cheers  and  fortifies   us,  and  which  wants 
nothing  but  bouquet."  —  H.  A.  Taine. 
-    Wilhelm  Meister's  Apprenticeships  by  Goethe.     (Car- 
lyle's  translation.) 
Nathaniel  Hawthorne' s  Novels.     The  Scarlet  Letter  ; 
The   Marble   Faun;    The   Blithedale    Romance; 
The  House  of  Seven  Gables. 
Les  Miserables,  by  Victor  Hugo. 
Hypatia  and  Alton  Locke,  by  Charles  Kings  ley. 
Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  by  Mrs.  Stowe.     "  We  have  seen 
an  American  woman  write  a  novel  of  which  a 
million  copies  were  sold  in  all  languages,  and 
which  had  one  merit,  of  speaking  to  the  universal 
heart,  and  was  read  with  equal  interest  to  three 
audiences,  namely,  in  the  parlor,  in  the  kitchen, 
and  in  the  nursery  of  every  house."  —  EMERSON. 
Lnnocents  Abroad,  by  Mark  Twain. 
6 


82  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Bulwer-Lytton' s  Novels.     The  Caxtons  ;  My  Novel ; 

Zanoni ;  The  Last  of  the  Barons ;  Harold ;  The 

Last  Days  of  Pompeii. 
yatte  Eyre,  by  Charlotte  Bronte. 
yohn  Halifax,  Gentleman,  by  Mrs.  Craik. 

This  list  might  ,be  readily  extended  ;  but  I 
forbear,  resolved  rather  to  omit  some  meri- 
torious works  than  to  include  any  that  are 
unworthy  of  the  best  companionship. 

I  close  this  chapter  with  Leigh  Hunt's 
pleasant  word-picture  descriptive  of  his  own 
library  :  "  Sitting  last  winter  among  my  books, 
and  walled  round  with  all  the  comfort  and 
protection  which  they  and  my  fireside  could 
afford  me,  —  to  wit,  a  table  of  high-piled 
books  at  my  back,  my  writing-desk  on  one 
side  of  me,  some  shelves  on  the  other,  and 
the  feeling  of  the  warm  fire  at  my  feet,  —  I 
began  to  consider  how  I  loved  the  authors  of 
those  books ;  how  I  loved  them  too,  not  only 
for  the  imaginative  pleasures  they  afforded 
me,  but  for  their  making  me  love  the  very 
books  themselves,  and  delight  to  be  in  con- 
tact with  them.  I  looked  sideways  at  my 
Spenser,  my  Theocritus,  and  my  Arabian 
Nights  ;  then  above  them  at  my  Italian  Poets  ; 
then  behind  me  at  my  Dry  den  and  Pope,  my 
Romances,    and    my    Boccaccio ;    then    on 


BOOKS  FOR  EVERY  SCHOLAR.  83 

my  left  side  at  my  Chaucer,  who  lay  on  my 
writing-desk ;  and  thought  how  natural  it  was 
in  Charles  Lamb  to  give  a  kiss  to  an  old 
folio,  as  I  once  saw  him  do  to  Chapman's 
Homer.  ...  I  entrench  myself  in  my  books, 
equally  against  sorrow  and  the  weather.  If 
the  wind  comes  through  a  passage,  I  look 
about  to  see  how  I  can  fence  it  off  by  a 
better  disposition  of  my  movables ;  if  a  mel- 
ancholy thought  is  importunate,  I  give  an- 
other glance  at  my  Spenser.  When  I  speak 
of  being  in  contact  with  my  books,  I  mean  it 
literally.  I  like  to  be  able  to  lean  my  head 
against  them.  .  .  .  The  very  perusal  of  the 
backs  is  a  '  discipline  of  humanity.'  There  Mr. 
Southey  takes  his  place  again  with  an  old  Rad- 
ical friend ;  there  Jeremy  Collier  is  at  peaice 
with  Dryden;  there  the  lion,  Martin  Luther, 
lies  down  with  the  Quaker  lamb,  Sewell ; 
there  Guzman  d'Alfarache  thinks  himself  fit 
company  for  Sir  Charles  Grandison,  and  has 
his  claims  admitted.  .  .  .  Nothing,  while  I 
live  and  think,  can  deprive  me  of  my  value 
for  such  treasures.  I  can  help  the  apprecia- 
tion of  them  while  I  last,  and  love  them 
till  I  die ;  and  perhaps  I  may  chance,  some 
quiet  day,  to  lay  my  over-beating  temples  on 
a  book,  and  so  have  the  death  I  most  envy." 


CHAPTER  V. 


U^\)ni  Books  sfjall  goung  Jolks  Ecati  ? 


^HE  greatest  problem  presented  to 
the  consideration  of  parents  and 
teachers  now-a-days  is  how  prop- 
erly to  regulate  and  direct  the  read- 
ing of  the  children.  There  is  no  scarcity  of 
reading-matter.  The  poorest  child  may  have 
free  access  to  books  and  papers,  more  than  he 
can  read.  The  publication  of  periodicals  and 
cheap  books  especially  designed  to  meet  the 
tastes  of  young  people  has  developed  into  an 
enterprise  of  vast  proportions.  Every  day, 
millions  of  pages  of  reading  matter  designed 
for  children  are  printed  and  scattered  broad- 
cast over  the  land.  But  unlimited  oppor- 
tunities often  prove  to  be  a  damage  and  a 
detriment;  and  over-abundance,  rather  than 
scarcity,  is  to  be  deplored.  As  a  general  rule, 
84 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  FOLKS  TO  READ.     85 

the  books  read  by  young  people  are  not  such 
as  lead  to  studious  habits,  or  induce  correct 
ideas  of  right  living.  They  are  intended 
simply  to  amuse ;  there  are  no  elements  of 
strength  in  them,  leading  up  to  a  noble  man- 
hood. I  doubt  if  in  the  future  it  can  be 
said  of  any  great  statesman  or  scholar  that 
his  tastes  had  been  formed,  and  his  energies 
directed  and  sustained,  through  the  influence 
of  his  early  reading ;  but  rather  that  he  had 
attained  success,  and  whatever  of  true  no- 
bility there  is  in  him,  in  spite  of  such 
influence. 

This  was  not  always  so.  The  experience 
of  a  few  well-known  scholars  will  illustrate. 
"  From  my  infancy,"  says  Benjamin  Franklin, 
"  I  was  passionately  fond  of  reading,  and  all 
the  money  that  came  into  my  hands  was  laid 
out  in  the  purchasing  of  books.  I  was  very 
fond  of  voyages.  My  first  acquisition  was 
Bunyan's  works  in  separate  little  volumes.  I 
afterwards  sold  them  to  enable  me  to  buy 
R.  Burton's  Historical  Collections.  They  were 
small  chapmen's  books,  and  cheap ;  forty 
volumes  in  all.  My  father's  little  library  con- 
sisted chiefly  of  books  in  polemic  divinity, 
most  of  which  I  read.  I  have  often  regretted 
that  at  a  time  when  I  had  such  a  thirst  for 


86  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

knowledge  more  proper  books  had  not  fallen 
in  my  way,  since  it  was  resolved  I  should  not 
be  bred  to  divinity.  There  was  among  them 
Plutarch's  Lives,  which  I  read  abundantly, 
and  I  still  think  the  time  spent  to  great  ad- 
vantage. There  was  also  a  book  of  Defoe's 
called  '  An  Essay  on  Projects,'  and  another  of 
Dr.  Mather's,  called  '  An  Essay  to  Do  Good,' 
which  perhaps  gave  me  a  turn  of  thinking 
that  had  an  influence  on  some  of  the  principal 
future  events  of  my  life.  This  bookish  in- 
clination at  length  determined  my  father  to 
make  me  a  printer.  ...  I  stood  out  some 
time,  but  at  last  was  persuaded,  and  signed 
the  indenture  when  I  was  yet  but  twelve 
years  old.  ...  I  now  had  access  to  better 
books.  An  acquaintance  with  the  appren- 
tices of  booksellers  enabled  me  sometimes  to 
borrow  a  small  one,  which  I  was  careful  to 
return  soon,  and  clean.  Often  I  sat  up  in 
my  chamber  the  greatest  part  of  the  night, 
when  the  book  was  borrowed  in  the  evening 
and  to  be  returned  in  the  morning,  lest  it 
should  be  found  missing.  .  .  .  About  this 
time  I  met  with  an  odd  volume  of  the  *  Spec- 
tator.' I  had  never  before  seen  any  of  them. 
I  bought  it,  read  it  over  and  over,  and  was 
much  delighted  with  it.     I  thought  the  writ- 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  POLKS  TO  READ.     87 

ing  excellent,  and  wished  if  possible  to  imi- 
tate it  With  that  view  I  took  some  of  the 
papers,  and,  making  short  hints  of  the  sen- 
timents in  each  sentence,  laid  them  by  a  few 
days,  and  then,  without  looking  at  the  book, 
tried  to  complete  the  papers  again,  by  ex- 
pressing each  hinted  sentiment  at  length,  and 
as  fully  as  it  had  been  expressed  before,  in 
any  suitable  words  that  should  occur  to  me. 
Then  I  compared  my  *  Spectator '  with  the 
original,  discovered  some  of  my  faults,  and 
corrected  them.  .  .  . 

"  Now  it  was,  that,  being  on  some  occasions 
made  ashamed  of  my  ignorance  in  figures, 
which  I  had  twice  failed  learning  when  at 
school,  I  took  Cocker's  book  on  Arithmetic, 
and  went  through  the  whole  by  myself  with 
the  greatest  ease.  I  also  read  Seller's  and 
Sturny's  book  on  Navigation,  which  made  me 
acquainted  with  the  little  geometry  it  con- 
tains ;  but  I  never  proceeded  far  in  that 
science.  I  read  about  this  time  '  Locke  on 
the  Human  Understanding,'  and  the  'Art  of 
Thinking,'  by  Messrs.  de  Port  Royal. 

"While  I  was  intent  on  improving  my 
language,  I  met  with  an  English  Grammar 
(I  think  it  was  Greenwood's),  having  at  the 
end  of  it  two  little  sketches  on  the  *  Arts  of 


88  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Rhetoric  and  Logic,'  the  latter  finishing  with 
a  dispute  in  the  Socratic  method.  And  soon 
after,  I  procured  Xenophon's  'Memorable 
Things  of  Socrates,'  wherein  there  are  many 
examples  of  the  same  method.  I  was 
charmed  with  it,  adopted  it,  dropped  my 
abrupt  contradiction  and  positive  argumen- 
tation, and  put  on  the  humble  inquirer."  ' 

Hugh  Miller,  that  most  admirable  Scotch- 
man and  self-made  man,  relates  a  similar 
experience  :  "  During  my  sixth  year  I  spelled 
my  way  through  the  Shorter  Catechism, 
the  Proverbs,  and  the  New  Testament,  and 
then  entered  upon  the  highest  form  in  the 
dame's  school  as  a  member  of  the  Bible 
class.  But  all  the  while  the  process  of  learn- 
ing had  been  a  dark  one,  which  I  slowly 
mastered,  in  humble  confidence  in  the  awful 
wisdom  of  the  schoolmistress,  not  knowing 
whither  it  tended;  when  at  once  my  mind 
awoke  to  the  meaning  of  the  most  delightful 
of  all  narratives,  —  the  story  of  Joseph.  Was 
there  ever  such  a  discovery  made  before  !  I 
actually  found  out  for  myself  that  the  art  of 
reading  is  the  art  of  finding  stories  in  books ; 
and  from  that  moment  reading  became  one 
of  the  most  delightful  of  my  amusements.     I 

'  Sparks's  Life  of  Franklin,  part  i. 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  FOLKS  TO  READ.     89 

began  by  getting  into  a  corner  on  the  dis- 
missal of  the  school,  and  there  conning  over 
to  myself  the  new-found  story  of  Joseph ;  nor 
did  one  perusal  serve  ;  —  the  other  Scripture 
stories  followed,  —  in  especial,  the  story  of 
Samson  and  the  Philistines,  of  David  and 
Goliah,  of  the  prophets  Elijah  and  Elisha; 
and  after  these  came  the  New  Testament 
stories  and  parables.  Assisted  by  my  uncles, 
too,  I  began  to  collect  a  library  in  a  box  of 
birch  bark  about  nine  inches  square,  which  I 
found  quite  large  enough  to  contain  a  great 
many  immortal  works  :  Jack  the  Giant- Killer, 
and  Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk,  and  the  Yellow 
Dwarf,  and  Blue  Beard,  and  Sinbad  the 
Sailor,  and  Beauty  and  the  Beast,  and  Aladdin 
and  the  Wonderful  Lamp,  with  several  others 
of  resembling  character.  Those  intolerable 
nuisances,  the  useful-knowledge  books,  had 
not  yet  arisen,  like  tenebrious  stars  on  the 
educational  horizon,  to  darken  the  world,  and 
shed  their  blighting  influence  on  the  opening 
intellect  of  the  '  youthhood ; '  and  so,  from  my 
rudimental  books  —  books  that  made  them- 
selves truly  such  by  their  thorough  assimilation 
with  the  rudimental  mind  —  I  passed  on, 
without  being  conscious  of  break  or  line  of 
division,  to  books  on  which  the  learned  are 


90  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

content  to  write  commentaries  and  disserta- 
tions, but  which  I  found  to  be  quite  as  nice 
children's  books  as  any  of  the  others.  Old 
Homer  wrote  admirably  for  little  folk,  espe- 
cially in  the  Odyssey;  a  copy  of  which,  in 
the  only  true  translation  extant,  —  for,  judging 
from  its  surpassing  interest,  and  the  wrath  of 
critics,  such  I  hold  that  of  Pope  to  be,  — 
I  found  in  the  house  of  a  neighbor.  Next 
came  the  Iliad ;  not,  however,  in  a  complete 
copy,  but  represented  by  four  of  the  six  vol- 
umes of  Bernard  Lintot.  With  what  power 
and  at  how  early  an  age  true  genius  im- 
presses !  I  saw,  even  at  this  immature  period, 
that  no  other  writer  could  cast  a  javelin  with 
half  the  force  of  Homer.  The  missiles  went 
whizzing  athwart  his  pages ;  and  I  could  see 
the  momentary  gleam  of  the  steel,  ere  it 
buried  itself  deep  in  brass  and  bull-hide.  I 
next  succeeded  in  discovering  for  myself  a 
child's  book,  of  not  less  interest  than  even  the 
Iliad,  which  might,  I  was  told,  be  read  on 
Sabbaths,  in  a  magnificent  old  edition  of  the 
'  Pilgrim's  Progress,'  printed  on  coarse  whity- 
brown  paper,  and  charged  with  numerous 
wood-cuts,  each  of  which  occupied  an  entire 
page,  which,  on  principles  of  economy,  bore 
letter-press  on  the  other  side.  .  .  . 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  FOLKS  TO  READ.     91 

"In  process  of  time,  I  devoured,  besides 
these  genial  works,  Robinson  Crusoe,  Gul- 
liver's Travels,  Ambrose  on  Angels,  the  '  judg- 
ment chapter'  in  Howie's  Scotch  Worthies, 
Byron's  Narrative,  and  the  Adventures  of 
Philip  Quarll,  with  a  good  many  other  adven- 
tures and  voyages,  real  and  fictitious,  part  of 
a  very  miscellaneous  collection  of  books  made 
by  my  father.  It  was  a  melancholy  library  to 
which  I  had  fallen  heir.  Most  of  the  missing 
volumes  had  been  with  the  master  aboard  his 
vessel  when  he  perished.  Of  an  early  edition 
of  Cook's  Voyages,  all  the  volumes  were  now 
absent,  save  the  first ;  and  a  very  tantalizing 
romance,  in  four  volumes,  —  Mrs.  Radcliffe's 
*  Mysteries  of  Udolpho,'  — was  represented  by 
only  the  earlier  two.  Small  as  the  collection 
was,  it  contained  some  rare  books,  —  among 
the  rest,  a  curious  little  volume  entitled  '  The 
Miracles  of  Nature  and  Art,'  to  which  we  find 
Dr.  Johnson  referring,  in  one  of  the  dialogues 
chronicled  by  Boswell,  as  scarce  even  in  his 
day,  and  which  had  been  published,  he  said, 
some  time  in  the  seventeenth  century  by  a 
bookseller  whose  shop  hung  perched  on  Old 
London  Bridge,  between  sky  and  water. 
It  contained,  too,  the  only  copy  I  ever  saw 
of  the  *  Memoirs  of  a  Protestant  condemned  to 


92  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

the  Galleys  of  France  for  his  Religion,'  —  a 
work  interesting  from  the  circumstance  that, 
though  it  bore  another  name  on  its  title- 
page,  it  had  been  translated  from  the  French 
for  a  few  guineas  by  poor  Goldsmith,  in  his 
days  of  obscure  literary  drudgery,  and  exhib- 
ited the  peculiar  excellences  of  his  style.  The 
collection  boasted,  besides,  of  a  curious  old 
book,  illustrated  by  very  uncouth  plates,  that 
detailed  the  perils  and  sufferings  of  an  English 
sailor  who  had  spent  the  best  years  of  his  life 
as  a  slave  in  Morocco.  It  had  its  volumes  of 
sound  theology,  too,  and  of  stiff  controversy, 
—  Flavel's  Works,  and  Henry's  Commentary, 
and  Hutchinson  on  the  Lesser  Prophets,  and 
a  very  old  treatise  on  the  Revelations,  with 
the  titlepage  away,  and  blind  Jameson's 
volume  on  the  Hierarchy,  with  first  editions 
of  Naphtali,  The  Cloud  of  Witnesses,  and  the 
Hind  Let  Loose.  ...  Of  the  works  of  fact 
and  incident  which  it  contained,  those  of  the 
voyages  were  my  special  favorites.  I  perused 
with  avidity  the  Voyages  of  Anson,  Drake, 
Raleigh,  Dampier,  and  Captain  Woods  Rog- 
ers ;  and  my  mind  became  so  filled  with  con- 
ceptions of  what  was  to  be  seen  and  done  in 
foreign  parts,  that  I  wished  myself  big  enough 
to  be  a  sailor,  that  I  might  go  and  see  coral 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  FOLKS  TO  READ.     93 

islands   and    burning    mountains,   and   hunt 
wild  beasts,  and  fight  battles."' 

William  and  Robert  Chambers,  the  founders 
of  the  great  publishing-house  of  W.  &  R. 
Chambers,  Edinburgh,  were  self-educated  men. 
"  At  little  above  fourteen  years  of  age," 
writes  William,  "  I  was  thrown  on  my  own 
resources.  From  necessity,  not  less  than 
from  choice,  I  resolved  at  all  hazards  to  make 
the  weekly  four  shillings  serve  for  everything. 
I  cannot  remember  entertaining  the  slightest 
despondency  on  the  subject.  ...  I  made 
such  attempts  as  were  at  all  practicable,  while 
an  apprentice,  to  remedy  the  defects  of  my 
education  at  school.  Nothing  in  that  way 
could  be  done  in  the  shop,  for  there  reading 
was  proscribed.  But,  allowed  to  take  home 
a  book  for  study,  I  gladly  availed  myself  of 
the  privilege.  The  mornings  in  summer, 
when  light  cost  nothing,  were  my  chief  reli- 
ance. Fatigued  with  trudging  about,  I  was 
not  naturally  inclined  to  rise  ;  but  on  this  and 
some  other  points  I  overruled  the  will,  and 
forced  myself  to  rise  at  five  o'clock,  and  have 
a  spell  at  reading  until  it  was  time  to  think  of 
moving  off,  —  my  brother,  when  he  was  with 
me,  doing  the  same.      In  this  way  I  made 

'  My  Schools  and  Schoolmasters. 


94  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

some  progress  in  French,  with  the  pronun- 
ciation of  which  I  was  already  familiar  from 
the  speech  of  the  French  prisoners  of  war  at 
Peebles.  I  likewise  dipped  into  several  books 
of  solid  worth,  —  such  as  Smith's  '  Wealth  of 
Nations,'  Locke's  *  Human  Understanding,' 
Paley's '  Moral  Philosophy,'  and  Blair's '  Belles- 
Lettres,'  —  fixing  the  leading  facts  and  theo- 
ries in  my  memory  by  a  note-book  for  the 
purpose.  In  another  book  I  kept  for  years 
an  accurate  account  of  my  expenses,  not  al- 
lowing a  single  halfpenny  to  escape  record." 

And  Robert,  the  younger  brother,  confirms 
the  story,  with  even  more  accurate  attention 
to  details.  "  My  brother  William  and  I,"  he 
says,  *•'  lived  in  lodgings  together.  Our  room 
and  bed  cost  three  shillings  a  week.  ...  I 
used  to  be  in  great  distress  for  want  of  fire. 
I  could  not  afford  either  that  or  a  candle  my- 
self; so  I  have  often  sat  by  my  landlady's 
kitchen  fire,  —  if  fire  it  could  be  called,  which 
was  only  a  little  heap  of  embers,  —  reading 
Horace  and  conning  my  dictionary  by  a  light 
which  required  me  to  hold  the  books  almost 
close  to  the  grate.  What  a  miserable  winter 
that  was  !  Yet  I  cannot  help  feeling  proud  of 
my  trials  at  that  time.  My  brother  and  I  — 
he  then  between  fifteen  and  sixteen,  I  between 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  FOLKS  TO  READ.     95 

thirteen  and  fourteen  —  had  made  a  reso- 
lution together  that  we  would  exercise  the 
last  degree  of  self-denial.  My  brother  actually 
saved  money  out  of  his  income.  I  remember 
seeing  him  take  five-and-twenty  shillings  out 
of  a  closed  box  which  he  kept  to  receive  his 
savings ;  and  that  was  the  spare  money  of 
only  a  twelvemonth." ' 

Rev,  Robert  CoUyer,  whose  name  is  known 
and  honored  by  every  American  scholar,  says  : 
"  Do  you  want  to  know  how  I  manage  to  talk 
to  you  in  this  simple  Saxon  ?  I  will  tell  you. 
I  read  Bunyan,  Crusoe,  and  Goldsmith  when 
I  was  a  boy,  morning,  noon,  and  night.  All 
the  rest  was  task  work ;  these  were  my  delight, 
with  the  stories  in  the  Bible,  and  with  Shak- 
speare  when  at  last  the  mighty  master  came 
within  our  doors.  ...  I  took  to  these  as  I 
took  to  milk,  and,  without  the  least  idea  what 
I  was  doing,  got  the  taste  for  simple  words 
into  the  very  fibre  of  my  nature.  There  was 
day-school  for  me  until  I  was  thirteen  years 
old,  and  then  I  had  to  turn  in  and  work  thir- 
teen hours  a  day.  ...  I  could  not  go  home 
for  the  Christmas  of  1839,  and  was  feeling 
very  sad  about  it  all,  for  I  was  only  a  boy ; 

'  Memoir  of  Robert  Chambers :  with  Autobiographic 
Reminiscences  of  William  Chambers. 


96  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

and,  sitting  by  the  fire,  an  old  farmer  came 
in  and  said,  '  I  notice  thou  's  fond  o'  read- 
ing, so  I  brought  thee  summat  to  read.'  It 
was  Irving's  '  Sketch  Book.'  I  had  never 
heard  of  the  work.  I  went  at  it,  and  was  '  as 
them  that  dream.'  No  such  dehght  had 
touched  me  since  the  old  days  of  Crusoe. 
I  saw  the  Hudson  and  the  Gatskills,  took 
poor  Rip  at  once  into  my  heart,  as  every- 
body has,  pitied  Ichabod  while  I  laughed  at 
him,  thought  the  old  Dutch  feast  a  most 
admirable  thing;  and  long  before  I  was 
through,  all  regret  at  my  lost  Christmas  had 
gone  down  the  wind,  and  I  had  found  out 
there  are  books  and  books.  That  vast 
hunger  to  read  never  left  me.  If  there  was 
no  candle,  I  poked  my  head  down  to  the 
fire ;  read  while  I  was  eating,  blowing  the 
bellows,  or  walking  from  one  place  to  another. 
I  could  read  and  walk  four  miles  an  hour. 
I  remember  while  I  was  yet  a  lad  reading 
Macaulay's  great  essay  on  Bacon,  and  I  could 
grasp  its  wonderful  beauty.  .  .  .  Now,  give 
a  boy  a  passion  like  this  for  anything,  books 
or  business,  painting  or  farming,  mechanism 
or  music,  and  you  give  him  thereby  a  lever  to 
lift  his  world,  and  a  patent  of  nobility,  if  the 
thing  he  does  is  noble." 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  FOLKS  TO  READ.     97 

It  may  be  questioned  whether,  in  these 
days  of  opportunities,  it  would  be  possible  to 
find  boys  of  thirteen  and  sixteen  who  would 
be  able  to  read  understandingly,  much  less 
appreciate  and  enjoy,  those  masterpieces  of 
English  literature  so  eagerly  studied  by  Frank- 
lin and  Hugh  Miller  and  the  Chambers 
brothers.  Their  mental  appetites  have  been 
treated  to  a  different  kind  of  diet.  If  their 
minds  have  not  been  dwarfed  and  stunted  by 
indulgence  in  what  has  been  aptly  termed 
"  pen-poison,"  their  tastes  have  been  per- 
verted and  the  growth  of  their  reasoning 
powers  checked  by  being  fed  upon  the  milk- 
and-water  stuff  recommended  as  harmless 
literature.  They  are  inveterate  devourers  of 
stories,  and  novels,  and  the  worthless  material 
which  is  recommended  as  good  reading,  but 
which,  in  reality,  is  nothing  but  a  "  discipline 
of  debasement."  Better  that  children  should 
not  read  at  all,  than  read  much  of  that  which 
passes  current  now-a-days  for  entertaining 
reading. 

All  children  like  to  read  stories.  The  love 
of-  "the  story,"  in  some  form  or  other,  is 
indeed  a  characteristic  of  the  human  mind, 
and  exists  everywhere,  in  all  conditions  of 
life.  But  stories  are  the  sweets  of  our  mental 
7 


98  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

existence,  and  only  a  few  of  the  best  and 
greatest  have  in  them  the  elements  which 
will  lead  to  a  strong  and  vigorous  mind- 
growth.  Constant  feeding  upon  light  litera- 
ture—  however  good  that  hterature  may  be 
in  itself — will  debiUtate  and  corrupt  the 
mental  appetite  of  the  child,  much  the  same 
as  an  unrestrained  indulgence  in  jam  and 
preserves  will  undermine  and  destroy  his 
physical  health.  In  either  case,  if  no  result 
more  serious  occurs,  the  worst  forms  of  dys- 
pepsia will  follow.  Literary  dyspepsia  is  the 
most  common  form  of  mental  disease  among 
us,  and  there  is  no  knowing  what  may  be  the 
extent  of  its  influence  upon  American  civili- 
zation. Fifty  per  cent  of  the  readers  who 
patronize  our  great  public  libraries  have  weak 
literary  stomachs;  they  cannot  digest  any- 
thing stronger  than  that  insipid  solution,  the 
last  society  novel,  or  anything  purer  than  the 
muddy  decoctions  poured  out  by  the  peri- 
odical press.  When,  of  all  the  reading  done 
in  a  public  library,  eighty  per  cent  is  of  books 
in  the  different  departments  of  fiction,  I  doubt 
whether,  after  all,  that  library  is  a  public  ben- 
efit. Yet  this  is  but  the  natural  result  of 
the  loose  habits  of  reading  which  we  encour- 
age  among  our  children,   and    cultivate   in 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  FOLKS  TO  READ.     99 

ourselves,  —  the  habit  of  reading  anything 
that  comes  to  hand,  provided  only  that  it  is 
entertaining. 

How  then  shall  we  so  order  the  child's 
reading  as  to  avoid  the  formation  of  desultory 
and  aimless  habits? 

Naturally,  the  earliest  reading  is  the  story,  — 
simple,  short,  straightforward  recitals  of  mat- 
ters of  daily  occurrence,  of  the  doings  of 
children  and  their  parents,  their  friends  or 
their  pets.  "The  Nursery,"  a  little  magazine 
published  in  Boston,  contains  an  excellent 
variety  of  such  stories.  Now  and  then  we 
may  pick  up  a  good  book,  too,  for  this  class 
of  readers  ;  but  there  are  many  worthless 
books  here,  as  elsewhere,  and  careful  parents 
will  look  well  into  that  which  they  buy.  The 
illuminated  covers  are  often  the  only  recom- 
mendation of  books  of  this  kind.  Numbers 
of  them  are  made  only  for  the  holiday  trade ; 
the  illustrations  of  many  are  from  second-hand 
cuts ;  and  the  text  is  frequently  written  to  fit 
the  illustrations.  A  pure,  fresh  book  for  a 
little  child  is  a  treasure  to  be  sought  for  and 
appreciated. 

Very  early  in  child-life  comes  the  period 
of  a  belief  in  fairies;  and  the  reading  of 
fairy-stories  is,  to  children,  a  very  proper,  nay, 


lOO  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

a  very  necessary  thing.  I  pity  the  boy  or 
girl  who  must  grow  up  without  having  made 
intimate  acquaintance  with  "  Mother  Goose," 
and  the  wonderful  stories  of  "  Jack  the  Giant- 
Killer,"  and  "  Blue  Beard,"  and  "  Cinderella," 
and  those  other  strange  tales  as  old  as  the 
race  itself,  and  yet  new  to  every  succeeding 
generation.  They  are  a  part  of  the  inheritance 
of  the  English-speaking  people,  and  belong, 
as  a  kind  of  birthright,  to  every  intelligent 
child. 

As  your  little  reader  advances  in  knowledge 
and  reading-ability,  he  should  be  treated  to 
stronger  food.  Grimm's  "  Household  Stories  " 
and  the  delightful  "  Wonder  Stories  "  of  Hans 
Christian  Andersen,  should  form  a  part  of  the 
library  of  every  child  as  he  passes  through  the 
"  fairy-story  period  "  of  his  life  ;  nor  can  we 
well  omit  to  give  him  "  Alice's  Adventures  in 
Wonderland,"  and  Charles  Kingsley's  "  Water 
Babies."  And  now,  or  later,  as  circum- 
stances shall  dictate,  we  may  introduce  him 
to  that  prince  of  all  wonder-books,  "The 
Arabian  Nights'  Entertainment,"  in  an  edi- 
tion carefully  adapted  to  children's  reading. 
The  tales  related  in  this  book  "  are  not  ours 
by  birth,  but  they  have  nevertheless  taken 
their  place  amongst  the  similar  things  of  our 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  FOLKS  TO  HEAD.  lOI 

own  which  constitute  the  national  literary 
inheritance.  Altogether,  it  is  a  glorious  book, 
and  one  to  which  we  cannot  well  show  enough 
of  respect." 

And  while  your  reader  lingers  in  the  great 
world  of  poetic  fancy  and  child-wonder,  let 
him  revel  for  a  while  in  those  enchanting  idyls 
and  myths  which  delighted  mankind  when  the 
race  was  young  and  this  earth  was  indeed  a 
wonder-world.  These  he  may  find,  apparelled 
in  a  dress  adapted  to  our  modern  notions  of 
propriety,  in  Hawthorne's  "  Wonder  Book  "  and 
"  Tanglewood  Tales,"  in  Kingsley's  "  Greek 
Heroes,"  and,  in  a  more  prosaic  form,  hi 
Cox's  "  Tales  of  Ancient  Greece ; "  and  in 
"The  Story  of  Siegfried,"  and,  later,  in  Mor- 
ris's "  Sigurd  the  Volsung,"  he  may  read  the 
no  less  charming  myths  of  our  own  northern 
ancestors,  and  the  world-famous  legend  of 
the  Nibelungen  heroes.  Then,  by  a  natural 
transition,  you  advance  into  the  border-land 
which  lies  between  the  world  of  pure  fancy 
and  the  domains  of  sober-hued  reality.  You 
introduce  your  reader  to  some  wholesome 
adaptations  of  those  Mediaeval  Romances, 
which,  with  their  one  grain  of  fact  to  a  thou- 
sand of  fable,  gave  such  noble  delight  to  lords 
and  ladies  in  the  days  of  chivalry.      These 


I02  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

you  will  find  in  Sidney  Lanier's  "  Boy's  King 
Arthur  "  and  "  Boy's  Mabinogion ; "  in  "  The 
Story  of  Roland,"  by  the  author  of  the  pres- 
ent volume  ;  and  in  Bulfinch's  "  Legends  of 
Charlemagne  "  and  "  The  Age  of  Chivalry." 

Do  you  understand  now  to  what  point  you 
have  led  your  young  reader?  You  have 
simply  followed  the  order  of  nature  and  of 
human  development,  and  you  have  gradually 
—  almost  imperceptibly  even  to  yourself — 
brought  him  out  of  the  world  of  child-wonder 
and  fairy-land,  through  the  middle  ground  of 
chivalric  romance,  to  the  very  borders  of  the 
domains  of  history.  He  is  ready  and  eager 
to  enter  into  the  realms  of  sober-hued  truth ; 
but  I  would  not  advise  undue  haste  in  this 
matter.  The  mediaeval  romances  have  in- 
spired him  with  a  desire  to  know  more  of 
those  days  when  knights-errant  rode  over  sea 
and  land  to  do  battle  in  the  name  of  God  and 
for  the  honor  of  their  king,  the  Church,  and 
the  ladies ;  he  wants  to  know  something  more 
nearly  the  truth  than  that  which  the  minstrels 
and  story-tellers  of  the  Middle  Ages  can  tell 
him.  And  yet  he  is  not  prepared  for  a  sud- 
den transition  from  romance  to  history.  Let 
him  read  "  Ivanhoe  ;  "  then  give  him  Howard 
Pyle's  "Story  of  Robin  Hood  "  and  Lanier's 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  FOLKS  TO  READ.  103 

"  Boy's  Percy ;  "  and  if  you  care  to  allow  him 
so  much  more  fiction,  let  him  read  Madame 
Colomb's  "  Franchise "  as  translated  and 
adapted  by  Davenport  Adams  in  his  "  Page, 
Squire,  and  Knight."  Can  you  withhold  his- 
tory longer  from  your  reader?  I  think  not. 
He  will  demand  some  authentic  knowledge  of 
Richard  the  Lion-hearted,  and  of  King  John, 
and  of  the  Saxons  and  Normans,  and  of  the 
Crusades,  and  of  the  Saracens,  and  of  Charle- 
magne and  his  peers.  Lose  not  your  oppor- 
tunity, but  pass  over  with  your  pupil  into  the 
promised  land.  The  transition  is  easy,  —  im- 
perceptible, in  fact,  —  and,  leaving  fiction  and 
"  the  story  "  behind  you,  you  enter  the  fields 
of  truth  and  history.  As  for  books,  it  is 
difficult  now  to  advise ;  but  there  are  Abbott's 
little  histories,  —  give  him  the  "  History  of 
Richard  I."  to  begin  with,  then  get  the  whole 
set  for  him.  Yonge's  "  Young  Folks'  History 
of  England,"  or  Dickens's  "  Child's  History  " 
will  also  be  in  demand.  The  way  is  easy 
now,  the  road  is  open,  you  need  no  further 
guidance  —  only,  keep  straight  ahead. 

There  are  other  books,  of  course,  which  the 
young  reader  will  find  in  his  way,  and  which 
it  is  altogether  proper  and  necessary  that  he 
should  read.     For  instance,  there  is  "  Robin- 


I04  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

son  Crusoe,"  without  a  knowledge  of  which 
the  boy  loses  one  of  his  dearest  enjoyments. 
"  How  youth  passed  long  ago,  when  there 
was  no  Crusoe  to  waft  it  away  in  fancy  to  the 
Pacific  and  fix  it  upon  the  lonely  doings  of 
the  shipwrecked  mariner,  is  inconceivable  ;  but 
we  can  readily  suppose  that  it  must  have  been 
different,"  says  Robert  Chambers.  And  no 
substitute  for  the  original  Robinson  will  an- 
swer. Not  one  of  the  ten  thousand  tales  of 
adventure  recently  published  for  boys  will  fill 
the  niche  which  this  book  fills,  or  atone  in  the 
least  for  any  neglect  of  its  merits.  "  The 
Swiss  Family  Robinson"  approaches  nearest 
in  excellence  to  Defoe's  immortal  creation, 
and  may  very  profitably  form  a  part  of  every 
boy's  or  girl's  library.  Then,  among  the 
really  unexceptionable  books,  of  the  healthful, 
hopeful,  truthful  sort,  I  may  name  "Tom 
Brown's  School  Days  at  Rugby,"  Lamb's 
"  Tales  from  Shakspeare,"  Mitchell's  "  About 
Old  Story-Tellers, "  the  inimitable  "Bodley 
Books,"  Bayard  Taylor's  "  Boys  of  Other 
Countries,"  Abbott's  "Franconia  Stories,"  and 
a  few  others  in  the  line  of  History  or  Travels, 
to  be  mentioned  in  future  chapters.  These 
I  believe  to  be,  in  every  sense,  proper,  whole- 
some books,  free  firom  all  kinds  of  mannerisms, 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  FOLKS  TO  READ.  105 

free  from  improper  language,  free  from  sickly 
sentiment  and  "gush;"  and  these,  if  not  the 
most  instructive  books,  are  the  sort  of  books 
which  the  child  or  youth  should  read  as  a 
kind  of  relish  or  supplement  to  the  more 
methodical  course  of  reading  which  I  have 
elsewhere  indicated. 

In  this  careful  direction  of  the  child's 
reading,  and  in  the  cultivation  of  his  literary 
taste,  if  you  have  succeeded  in  bringing  him 
to  the  point  which  we  have  indicated,  you 
have  done  much  towards  forming  his  char- 
acter for  life.  There  is  little  danger  that  bad 
books  will  ever  possess  any  attractions  for 
him ;  he  will  henceforth  be  apt  to  go  right  of 
his  own  accord,  preferring  the  wholesome  and 
the  true  to  any  of  the  flashy  allurements  of  the 
"  literary  slums  and  grog-shops,"  which  so 
abound  and  flourish  in  these  days. 

But  perhaps  the  fundamental  error  in  deter- 
mining what  books  children  shall  read  lies  in 
the  very  popular  notion  that  to  read  much, 
and  to  derive  pleasure  and  profit  from  our 
reading,  many  books  are  necessary.  And  the 
greatest  obstacle  in  the  way  of  forming  and 
directing  a  proper  taste  for  good  reading  is 
to  be  found,  not  in  the  scarcity,  but  in  the 
superabundance  of  reading  matter.   The  great 


I06  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

flood  of  periodical  literature  for  young  peo- 
ple is  the  worst  hindrance  to  the  formation 
of  right  habits  in  reading.  Some  of  these 
periodicals  are  simply  unadulterated  "pen 
poison,"  designed  not  only  to  enrich  their 
projectors,  but  to  deprave  the  minds  of  those 
who  read.  Others  are  published,  doubtless, 
from  pure  motives  and  with  the  best  inten- 
tions ;  but,  being  managed  by  inexperienced 
or  incapable  editors,  they  are,  at  the  best, 
but  thin  dilutions  of  milk-and-water  literature, 
leading  to  mental  imbecility  and  starvation. 
The  periodicals  fit  to  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  reading  children  may  be  numbered  on  half 
your  fingers ;  and  even  these  should  not  be 
read  without  due  discrimination. 

Too  great  a  variety  of  books  or  papers 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  inexperienced  read- 
ers offers  a  premium  to  desultoriness,  and 
fosters  and  encourages  the  habit  of  devouring 
every  species  of  literary  food  that  comes  to 
hand.  Hence  we  should  beware  not  only  of 
the  bad,  but  of  too  great  plenty  of  the  good. 
"  The  benefit  of  a  right  good  book,"  says  Mr. 
Hudson,  "  all  depends  upon  this,  that  its  vir- 
tue just  soak  into  the  mind,  and  there  become 
a  living,  generative  force.  To  be  running  and 
rambling  over  a  great  many  books,  tasting  a 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  FOLKS  TO  READ.    107 

little  here,  a  little  there,  and  tying  up  with 
none,  is  good  for  nothing ;  nay,  worse  than 
nothing.  Such  a  process  of  unceasing  change 
is  also  a  discipline  of  perpetual  emptiness. 
The  right  method  in  the  culture  of  the  mind 
is  to  take  a  few  choice  books,  and  weave 
about  them 

*  The  fixed  delights  of  house  and  home, 
Friendship  that  will  not  break,  and  love  that  cannot 
roam.'  " 


CHAPTER  VI. 
2rf)£  ILiirarg  in  t]^e  Scj^ool. 

What  sort  of  reading  are  our  schools  planting  an  appe- 
tite for?  Are  they  really  doing  anything  to  instruct  and 
form  the  mental  taste,  so  that  the  pupils  on  leaving  them 
may  be  safely  left  to  choose  their  reading  for  themselves  ? 
It  is  clear  in  evidence  that  they  are  far  from  educating  the 
young  to  take  pleasure  in  what  is  intellectually  noble  and 
sweet.  The  statistics  of  our  public  libraries  show  that 
some  cause  is  working  mightily  to  prepare  them  only  for 
delight  in  what  is  both  morally  and  intellectually  mean 
and  foul.  It  would  not  indeed  be  fair  to  charge  our  public 
schools  with  positively  giving  this  preparation;  but  it  is 
their  business  to  forestall  and  prevent  such  a  result.  If, 
along  with  the  faculty  of  reading,  they  cannot  also  impart 
some  safeguards  of  taste  and  habit  against  such  a  result, 
will  the  system  prove  a  success  ?  —  Henry  N.  Hudson. 


|UCH  is  being  said,  novv-a-days,  about 

the  utility  of  scliool  libraries  ;    and 

in  some  instances  much  ill-directed, 

if  not  entirely  misdirected,  labor  is 

being  expended  in  their  formation.      Public 

libraries  are  not  necessarily  public  benefits  j 

io8 


THE  LIBRARY  IN  THE  SCHOOL.      1 09 

and  school  libraries,  unless  carefully  selected 
and  judiciously  managed,  will  not  prove  to  be 
unmixed  blessings.  There  are  several  ques- 
tions which  teachers  and  school  officers  should 
seriously  consider  before  setting  themselves 
to  the  task  of  establishing  a  library ;  and  no 
teacher  who  is  not  himself  a  knower  of  books, 
and  a  reader,  should  presume  to  regulate  and 
direct  the  reading  of  others.  In  the  present 
chapter  it  is  my  purpose  to  offer  a  few  general 
hints  that  may  be  of  value  to  those  who  are 
intrusted  with  the  duty  of  forming  libraries 
for  young  people. 

What  are  the  objects  of  a  school  library? 
They  are  twofold  :  First,  to  aid  in  cultivating 
a  taste  for  good  reading ;  second,  to  supply 
materials  for  supplementary  study  and  inde- 
pendent research.  Now,  neither  of  these  ob- 
jects can  be  attained  unless  your  library  is 
composed  of  books  selected  especially  with 
reference  to  the  capabilities  and  needs  of 
your  pupils.  Dealing,  as  you  do,  with  pupils 
of  various  degrees  of  intellectual  strength, 
their  minds  warped  by  every  variety  of  moral 
influence  and  home  training,  the  cultivation 
of  a  taste  for  good  reading  among  them  is  no 
small  matter.  To  do  this,  your  library  must 
contain  none  but  truly  good  books.     It  is  a 


no  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

great  mistake  to  suppose  that  every  collection 
of  books  is  a  library ;  and  yet  that  is  the  name 
which  is  applied  to  many  very  inferior  collec- 
tions. It  is  no  micommon  thing  to  find  these 
so-called  libraries  composed  altogether  of  the 
odds  and  ends  of  literature,  —  of  donations 
entirely  worthless  to  their  donors  ;  of  second- 
hand school-books ;  of  Patent  Office  Reports 
and  other  public  documents ;  and  of  the  di- 
lapidated remains  of  some  older  and  equally 
worthless  collection  of  books ;  and  with  these 
you  talk  about  cultivating  a  taste  for  good 
reading !  One  really  good  book,  a  single 
copy  of  "St.  Nicholas,"  is  worth  more  than 
all  this  trash.  Get  it  out  of  sight  at  once  ! 
The  value  of  a  library  —  no  matter  for  what 
purpose  it  has  been  founded  —  depends  not 
upon  the  number  of  its  books,  but  upon  their 
character.  And  so  the  first  rule  to  be  ob- 
served in  the  formation  of  a  school  library  is, 
Buy  it  at  first  hand,  even  though  you  should 
begin  with  a  single  volume,  and  shun  all  kinds 
of  donations,  unless  they  be  donations  of 
cash,  or  books  of  unquestionable  value. 

In  selecting  books  for  purchase,  you  will 
have  an  eye  single  to  the  wants  of  the  stu- 
dents who  are  to  use  them.  A  school  library 
should  be  in  no  sense  a  public  circulating 


THE  LIBRARY  IN  THE  SCHOOL.      1 1 1 

library.  You  cannot  cater  to  the  literary 
tastes  of  the  public,  and  at  the  same  time 
serve  the  best  interests  of  your  pupils.  Books 
relating  to  history,  to  biography,  and  to  travel 
will  form  a  very  large  portion  of  your  library. 
But  books  of  fiction  —  such  as  are  known  to 
be  meritorious  —  should  not  be  excluded  j 
and  poetry  should  occupy  the  place  of  honor 
upon  your  shelves.  For  the  younger  children, 
you  should  not  neglect  to  supply  a  few  books 
of  that  type  referred  to  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  —  stories  which  cultivate  the  imagi- 
nation and  strengthen  the  understanding  while 
they  at  the  same  time  allow  a  healthful  and 
delightful  relaxation  from  the  severer  studies 
of  the  school-room.  No  book  should  be 
bought  merely  because  it  is  a  good  book,  but 
because  it  can  be  made  useful  in  the  attain- 
ment of  certain  desired  ends.  The  courses 
of  reading  indicated  in  the  following  chap- 
ters of  this  work,  it  is  hoped,  will  assist  you 
largely  in  making  a  wise  selection  as  well  as 
in  directing  to  a  judicious  use  of  books.  For 
the  selection  of  a  book  is  only  half  of  a  teach- 
er's or  a  parent's  duty :  the  proper  and  pro- 
fitable use  of  it  is  the  other  half;  and  this 
lesson  should  be  early  taught  to  all  young 
people. 


112  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

The  proper  and  profitable  use  of  books,  — 
this  implies  many  things.  In  the  first  place, 
every  child  should  learn  how  to  handle  them 
carefully,  reverentially,  as  things  of  greater 
worth  than  mere  dead  matter.  There  is 
scarcely  anything  more  painful  to  the  book- 
lover  than  to  see  books  abused.  And  yet 
how  few  people  seem  to  regard  them  as  more 
than  so  many  packages  of  waste-paper  having 
a  certain  money  value  !  How  few,  among  all 
those  who  read,  appear  to  recognize  in  a  good 
book  "  the  precious  life-blood  of  a  master- 
spirit" !  How  few  treat  these  silent  yet  expres- 
sive friends  with  anything  approaching  due  re- 
spect !  The  example  of  Douglas  Jerrold  may 
be  quoted  as  illustrating  that  genuine  love  of 
books  which  prompts  their  owner  to  care  for 
them  as  for  his  dearest  companions.  "  He 
had  an  almost  reverential  fondness  for  books, 
—  books  themselves,  —  and  said  that  he  could 
not  bear  to  treat  them,  or  see  them  treated, 
with  disrespect.  He  told  us  it  gave  him  pain 
to  see  them  turned  on  their  faces,  stretched 
open,  or  dog's-eared,  or  carelessly  flung  down, 
or  in  any  way  misused.  He  told  us  this 
holding  a  volume  in  his  hand  with  a  caressing 
gesture,  as  though  he  tendered  it  affection- 
ately and  gratefully  for  the  pleasure  it  had 


THE  LIBRARY  IN   THE  SCHOOL.     II3 

given  him.  He  spoke  like  one  who  had 
known  what  it  was  in  former  years  to  buy  a 
book  when  its  purchase  involved  a  sacrifice 
of  some  other  object  from  a  not  over-stored 
purse.  We  have  often  noticed  this  in  book- 
lovers  who  like  ourselves  have  had  volumes 
come  into  cherished  possession  at  times  when 
their  glad  owners  were  not  rich  enough  to 
easily  afford  book-purchases.  Charles  Lamb 
had  this  tenderness  for  books,  caring  nothing 
for  their  gaudy  clothing,  but  hugging  a  rare 
folio  all  the  nearer  to  his  heart  for  its  worn 
edges  and  shabby  binding."  ^ 

The  first  lesson  learned  by  pupils  having 
access  to  a  school  library  should  be  such  as 
will  lead  them  to  have  this  reverence  for  good 
books.  Care  should  be  taken  that  no  species 
of  injury  shall  occur.  A  book  when  once 
taken  from  its  shelf  should  be  returned  in 
due  time  in  perfectly  good  condition.  Dirty 
hands  should  not  be  permitted  to  touch,  much 
less  to  open  a  volume.  The  child  should  be 
taught  that  under  no  circumstances  should  he 
turn  the  leaves  with  wetted  fingers,  or  fold  the 
comers  to  mark  the  place,  or  lay  the  open 
book  down  upon  its  face  where  he  has  left 

1  Recollections  of  Writers,  by  Charles  and  Mary  Cow- 
den  Clarke. 

8 


1 14  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

off  reading.  He  should,  moreover,  be  led  to  a 
proper  admiration  of  handsome  bindings,  —  an 
admiration  which  will  enjoin  careful  handling, 
and  induce  that  instinctive  respect  which  all 
feel  for  beauty  of  dress.  For  this  latter  reason 
I  deplore  the  custom  —  useless,  as  it  seems 
to  me  —  of  covering  library  books  with  those 
unsightly  manila  covers  which  do  but  provoke 
disrespect  and  vandalism.  If  teachers  do  their 
duty  in  this  matter,  uncovered  books  will  out- 
last those  subjected  to  such  indignity.  And 
how  much  more  pleasant,  when  standing  in 
front  of  the  shelves,  to  see  the  smiling  faces 
of  our  friends  looking  down  upon  us,  than 
to  confront  a  monotonous  array  of  yellowish 
brown  bundles  as  devoid  of  expression  as  they 
are  lacking  in  beauty  ! 

No  matter  how  small  the  library,  every 
book  should  have  its  own  place  on  the 
shelves.  The  best  way,  when  there  is  room 
for  it,  is  to  have  the  shelves  divided  by  parti- 
tions into  compartments,  each  compartment 
just  large  enough  to  contain  the  book  for 
which  it  is  intended.  For  the  sake  of  con- 
venience in  finding  and  returning  books,  the 
following  method  of  numbering  is  perhaps  the 
best  yet  devised. 

I.  If  there  is  more  than  one  case,  or  more 


THE  LIBRARY  IN   THE  SCHOOL.      1 15 

than  one  set  of  shelves,  designate  each  case  or 
set  of  shelves  by  a  number,  as  i,  2,  3,  etc.,  al- 
ways beginning  at  the  left  and  moving  towards 
the  right. 

2.  Designate,  in  like  manner,  each  shelf, 
beginning  with  the  lowest. 

3.  Then,  attach  a  number  to  each  compart- 
ment on  a  shelf,  beginning  with  number  i,  as 
the  compartment  farthest  to  the  left,  and  mov- 
ing towards  the  right. 

4.  Give  to  each  book  a  number  which  shall 
include  (i)  the  number  of  the  case,  (2)  that 
of  the  shelf,  (3)  that  of  the  compartment  to 
which  it  belongs.  For  example,  the  book 
bearing  the  number  1.2  3  is  known  to  belong 
in  the  first  case  to  the  left,  on  the  second 
shelf  from  the  bottom  of  that  case,  and  in 
the  compartment  numbered  3  of  that  shelf. 
The  book  numbered  15.3  21  will  be  found 
in  the  fifteenth  case,  on  the  third  shelf,  and 
in  the  twenty-first  compartment  of  that  shelf. 
The  period  is  used,  for  convenience,  to  sepa- 
rate the  number  designating  the  case  and  that 
indicating  the  shelf.  When  a  book  is  taken 
from  its  compartment,  a  card  bearing  the  name 
of  the  person  to  whom  it  is  given  should  be 
left  in  its  place.  In  small  libraries  this  is  gen- 
erally a  sufficient  record  of  the  loan. 


Il6  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Next  to  the  care  of  the  books  should  be 
considered  the  order  and  manner  in  which 
they  are  read.  I  would  not  advise  that  teach- 
ers or  even  parents  should  every  time  select 
the  books  which  a  child  is  to  read.  A  boy 
will  generally  read  with  much  more  zest  and 
interest  a  book  which  he  has  chosen  for  him- 
self. But  the  teacher  should  give  such  general 
instruction  and  directions  as  will,  while  they 
leave  some  latitude  for  choice,  always  lead  to 
a  wise  choice. 

As  the  pupil  advances  in  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge,  he  should  be  given  more  definite 
instruction  as  to  the  manner  in  which  he  may 
systematize  his  reading  so  as  to  lead  to  the 
best  possible  results.  More  than  this,  he 
should  on  occasion  be  held  to  as  strict  ac- 
count in  the  matter  of  his  reading  as  in  that 
of  any  other  part  of  his  school  work ;  and  he 
should  be  brought  so  constantly  into  contact 
with  books  that  he  will  unconsciously  acquire 
a  ready  skill  in  using  them  for  purposes  of 
reference. 

It  too  often  happens  in  schools  where  the 
ordinary  catechetical  methods  of  instruction 
are  closely  followed,  that  the  pupil's  interest 
in  his  studies  is  centred  upon  the  recitation 
and  ends  with  the  examination.     The  text- 


THE  LIBRARY  IN  THE  SCHOOL.     117 

book,  to  ordinary  minds,  is  a  dry  compilation 
of  facts  or  theories,  —  so  dry  that  only  the 
brightest  intellects  succeed  in  discovering  any 
relationship  between  its  world  of  abstractions 
and  the  real  world  of  life  and  thought  around 
us.  But  suppose  that  in  each  school  there 
were  a  small  working  library,  such  as  I  have 
described,  and  an  earnest,  skilful  teacher  to 
direct  its  use.  The  legitimate  work  of  the 
school,  far  from  being  hindered,  is  advanced 
and  perfected  through  the  wise  use  of  good 
books ;  the  minds  of  the  pupils  are  awakened 
to  a  conception  of  grander  things  and  nobler 
possibilities  than  the  ordinary  narrow  routine 
of  text-book  instruction  could  ever  open  to 
their  view;  and,  more  than  this,  they  are 
daily  acquiring  a  healthful  taste  for  the  best 
reading,  —  a  taste  which  does  away  with  all 
necessity  for  declamatory  warnings  against 
bad  literature.  Moreover,  the  teacher  having 
put  the  key  of  knowledge  into  his  pupils' 
hands,  and  having  taught  them  how  to  use 
it,  has  in  the  most  natural  manner  inspired 
them  with  a  love  for  the  acquisition  of  learn- 
ing and  a  wholesome  ambition  which,  what- 
ever may  be  their  position  in  the  world,  will 
henceforth  be  an  important  factor  in  their  lives, 
and  an  integral  part  of  their  happiness. 


Il8  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

In  a  former  chapter  I  have  shown  you 
how,  with  a  library  of  only  fifty  volumes,  you 
may  have  in  your  possession  the.  very  best 
of  all  that  the  world's  master-minds  have  ever 
written,  —  food,  as  I  have  said,  for  study,  and 
meditation,  and  mind  growth  enough  for  a  hfe- 
time.  Such  a  library  is  worth  more  than  ten 
thousand  volumes  of  the  ordinary  "popular" 
kind  of  books.  So,  also,  the  reading  of  a 
very  few  books,  carefully  and  methodically, 
by  your  pupils  —  the  constant  presence  of 
the  very  best  books  in  our  language,  and  the 
exclusion  of  the  trashy  and  the  vile  —  will 
give  them  more  real  enjoyment  and  infinitely 
greater  profit  than  the  desultory  or  hasty  read- 
ing of  many  volumes.  A  small  library  is  to 
be  despised  only  when  it  contains  inferior 
books. 


4^ 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Courses  of  Eeabtng  m  f^fstorg. 

History,  at  least  in  its  state  of  ideal  perfection,  is  a 
compound  of  poetry  and  philosophy.  —  Macaulay. 

Let  us  search  more  and  more  into  the  Past ;  let  all 
men  explore  it  as  the  true  fountain  of  knowledge,  by 
whose  light  alone,  consciously  or  unconsciously  employed, 
can  the  Present  and  the  Future  be  interpreted  or  guessed 
at.  —  Carlyle. 

History  is  a  voice  forever  sounding  across  the  centuries 
the  laws  of  right  and  wrong.  Opinions  alter,  manners 
change,  creeds  rise  and  fall ;  but  the  moral  law  is  written 
on  the  tablets  of  eternity.  .  .  .  Justice  and  truth  alone 
endure  and  live.  Injustice  and  falsehood  may  be  long-lived, 
but  doomsday  comes  at  last  to  them  in  French  revolutions 
and  other  terrible  ways.  That  is  one  lesson  of  history. 
Another  is,  that  we  should  draw  no  horoscopes ;  that  we 
should  expect  little,  for  what  we  expect  will  not  come  to 
pass.  —  Froude, 

The  student  is  to  read  history  actively  and  not  passively ; 
to  esteem  his  own  life  the  text,  and  books  the  commentary. 
Thus  compelled,  the  Muse  of  history  will  utter  oracles,  as 
never  to  those  who  do  not  respect  themselves.     I  have  no 

119 


I20  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

expectation  that  any  man  will  read  history  aright  who 
thinks  that  what  was  done  in  a  remote  age,  by  men  whose 
names  have  resounded  far,  has  any  deeper  sense  than  what 
he  is  doing  to-day.  .  .  .  The  instinct  of  the  mind,  the  pur- 
pose of  nature,  betrays  itself  in  the  use  we  make  of  the 
signal  narrations  of  history.  —  Emerson. 

VENTURE  to  propose  the  follow- 
ing courses  of  reading  in  history. 
Properly  modified  with  reference  to 
individual  needs  and  capabilities, 
these  lists  will  prove  to  be  safe  helps  and 
guides  to  younger  as  well  as  older  readers,  to 
classes  in  high  schools  and  colleges  as  well 
as  private  students  and  specialists.  To  read 
all  the  works  here  mentioned,  as  carefully  and 
critically  as  the  nature  of  their  contents  de- 
mands, would  require  no  inconsiderable  por- 
tion of  one's  reading  lifetime.  Such  a  thing 
is  not  expected.  The  wise  teacher  or  the 
judicious  scholar  will  select  from  the  list  that 
which  is  most  proper  for  him,  and  which  best 
meets  his  wants,  or  aids  him  most  in  the  pur- 
suit of  his  native  aim. 

The  titles,  so  far  as  possible,  are  given  in 
chronological  order.  Those  printed  in  italics 
are  of  books  indispensable  for  purposes  of 
reference ;  those  printed  in  small  capitals 
are  of  works  especially  adapted  to  younger 
readers. 


CO UESES  OF  READING  IN  HISTORY.     1 2 1 

I.  GREEK  HISTORY. 
Dictionaries. 

No  reader  can  well  do  without  a  good  clas- 
sical dictionary.  The  following  are  recom- 
mended as  the  best :  — 

Anthon :    Classical  Dictionary. 
Smith  :  Studeitfs  Classical  Dictionary. 

Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities. 

Ginn  &  Heath's  Classical  Atlas. 
Kiepert's  Schulatlas. 

General  Histories. 

Cox  :   General  History  of  Greece. 

Smith :   Smaller  History  of  Greece. 

Felton :  Ancient  and  Modern  Greece. 

Yonge :  Young  Folks'  History  of  Greece. 

Grote :   History  of  Greece  ( 1 2  vols. ) . 

Curtius:    History  of   Greece    (5   vols.);    translated 

from  the  German,  by  A.  W.  Ward. 
J.  A.  St.  John  :  Ancient  Greece. 

Mythology. 

Dwight :    Grecian  and  Roman  Mythology. 
Murray  :   Manual  of  Mythology. 
Keightley :    Classical  Mythology. 
Gladstone :  Juventus  Mundi. 
Ruskin :  The  Queen  of  the  Air. 
Cox:  Tales  of  Ancient  Greece. 
Kingsley:  The  Greek  Heroes. 
Hawthorne  :  The  Wonder  Book. 

Tanglewood  Tales. 


122  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Miscellaneous. 

Homer's  Iliad  and  Odyssey.    Chapman's  translation 

is  the  best.    Of  the  later  versions,  that  of  Lord 

Derby  is  preferable. 
Church:   Stories  from  Homer. 
Butcher  and  Lang's  prose  translation  of  the  Iliad 

and  the  Odyssey. 
Collins :   The  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey  (two  volumes 

of  "  Ancient  Classics  for  English  Readers"). 
Gladstone  :    Homer. 
De  Quincey:   Homer  and  the  Homeridae  (essay  in 

"  Literary  Criticism  "). 
Fenelon :   Telemachus     (translated     by    Hawkes- 

worth). 
Benjamin :   Troy. 
Goethe :   Iphigenia   in  Tauris  (drama,   Swanwick's 

translation). 

The  student  of  this  period  is  referred  also 
to  Dr.  Schliemann's  works  :  Ilios,  Troja,  My- 
kenai,  and  Tiryns. 

Church  :  Stories  from  Herodotus. 
Swayne:    Herodotus  (Ancient  Classics). 
Brugsch  Bey :  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs. 
Freeman :  Historical  Essays  (2d  series). 
Ebers :    Uarda   (romance,   descriptive   of   Egyptian 
life  and  manners  fourteen  centuries  before  Christ). 

An  Egyptian  Princess  (five  centuries  before 

Christ). 

Smith  :  Studenfs  History  of  the  East. 
Cox  :  The  Greeks  and  the  Persians. 
Abbott :  The  History  of  Darius  the  Great. 

The  History  of  Xerxes  the  Great. 

Sankey :   The  Spartan  Supremacy. 


COURSES  OF  READING  IN  HISTORY.    1 23 

Bulwer  :   Pausanias  the  Spartan  (romance,  475  B.  c). 

Glover :  Leonidas  (epic  poem). 

Croly:  The  Death  of  Leonidas  (poem). 

Robert  Browning :  Pheidippides  (poem  in  "  Dra- 
matic Idyls"). 

Lloyd:  The  Age  of  Pericles  (fifth  century  before 
Christ). 

Cox  :   The  Athenian  Empire. 

Landor:  Pericles  and  Aspasia  (in  "Imaginary  Con- 
versations "). 

Mrs.  L.  M.  Child :  Philothea  (romance  of  the  time 
of  Pericles). 

Curteis  :   The  Macedonian  Empire. 

Abbott :  The  History  of  Alexander  the  Great. 

Butcher:   Demosthenes  (Classical  Writers). 

Greenough :  Apelles  and  his  Contemporaries  (a 
romance  of  the  time  of  Alexander). 

Dryden:  Alexander's  Feast  (poem). 

Bickersteth:   Caubul  (poem). 

Literature. 

Mahaflfy  :  History  of  Greek  Literature. 

Schlegel :  History  of  Dramatic  Literature  (first 
fourteen  chapters). 

Church:  Stories  from  the  Greek  Trage- 
dians. 

Copleston  :   ^schylus  (Ancient  Classics). 

Mrs.  Browning:  Prometheus  Bound  (an  English 
version  of  the  great  tragedy). 

Bishop  Milman  :   Agamemnon. 

Collins:    Sophocles  (Ancient  Classics). 

De  Quincey :  The  Antigone  of  Sophocles  (essay  in 
"  Literary  Criticism  "). 

Donne:   Euripides  (Ancient  Classics). 

Froude :  Sea  Studies  (essay  in  "  Short  Studies  on 
Great  Subjects  "). 


124  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Collins:  Aristophanes  (Ancient  Classics). 

Mitchell :   The  Clouds  of  Aristophanes. 

De  Quincey :  Theory  of  Greek  Tragedy  (essay  in 

"  Literary  Criticism  "). 
Brodribb  :   Demosthenes  (Ancient  Classics). 
Collins:  Plato  (Ancient  Classics). 
Jowett :   The  Dialogues  of  Plato  (4  vols.). 
The  Phaedo  of  Plato  (Wisdom  Series). 
Plato  :  The  Apology  of  Socrates. 
A  Day  in  Athens  with  Socrates. 
Plutarch:  On   the  Daemon    of   Socrates  (essay  in 

the  "  Morals  "). 
Grant :   Xenophon  (Ancient  Classics). 
Collins  :   Thucydides  (Ancient  Classics). 

Life  and  Manners. 

For  a  study  of  social  life  and  manners  in 
Greece,  read  or  refer  to  the  following :  — 

Becker:   Charicles   (romance,   with    copious    notes 

and  excursuses). 
Mahaffy :    Social  Life  in  Greece. 

Old  Greek  Life. 

Guhl  and  Koner :  Life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 

Special  Beference. 

Draper:   History  of  the   Intellectual  Development 

of  Europe  (vol.  i.). 
Clough :   Plutarch's  Lives. 
Kaufman:  The  Young  Folks'  Plutarch. 
White:  Plutarch  for  Bovs  and  Girls. 

It  is  good  exercise,  good  medicine,  the  reading  of  Plu- 
tarch's books,  —  good  for  to-day  as  it  \vas  in  times  preced- 
ing ours,  salutary  for  all  times.  —  A.  Bronson  Alcott. 


COURSES  OP  READING  IN  HISTORY.     1 25 


II.   ROMAN   HISTORY. 

For  purposes  of  reference  the  following 
books,  already  mentioned  in  the  course  of 
Greek  History,  are  indispensable  :  — 

Anthon :   Classical  Dictionary. 

Smith  :   Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities. 

Ginn  &  Heath  :    Classical  Atlas. 

Murray :  Manual  of  Mythology. 

General  Histories. 
Smith  :   Smaller  History  of  Rome. 
Merivale :    Students'  History  of  Rome. 
Yonge :  Young  Folks'  History  of  Rome. 
Creighton :   History  of  Rome. 

For  the  period  preceding  the  Empire  :  — 

Mommsen  :  History  of  Rome  (4  vols.). 
Abbott :  The  History  of  Romulus. 
Church :  Stories  from  Virgil. 

Stories  from  Livy. 

Macaulay :   Horatius  (poem  in  "  Lays    of   Ancient 

Rome  "). 
Arnold  :   History  of  Rome. 
Ihne :   Early  Rome. 

Shakspeare  :  The  Tragedy  of  Coriolanus  (490  B.  c). 
Macaulay :   Virginia   (poem  in   "  Lays  of  Ancient 

Rome,"  459  B.C.). 
Abbott :  The  History  of  Hannibal. 
Smith  :   Rome  and  Carthage. 

Dale  :   Regulus  before  the  Senate  (poem,  256  B.  c). 
Beesly:   The  Gracchi,  Marius,  and  Sulla. 
Mrs.  Mitchell :  Spartacus  to  the  Gladiators  (poem, 

73  B.C.). 


126  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

For  the  period  of  the  Caesars  and  the  early 
Empire  :  — 

Merivale  :   History  of  the  Romans  (4  vols.). 

The  Roman  Triumvirates. 

Abbott :  The  History  of  Julius  Caesar. 
Addison  :   The  Tragedy  of  Cato  (drama). 
Froude  :   Caesar  ;  a  Sketch. 

Trollope  :  Life  of  Cicero. 
Ben  Jonson  :   Catiline  (drama). 
Beaumont    and    Fletcher  :     The    False    One  (dra- 
ma). 
Abbott :  The  History  of  Cleopatra. 
Shakspeare :   The  Tragedy  of  Julius  Caesar. 

Antony  and  Cleopatra. 

Capes  :   The  Early  Empire. 

De  Quincey :  The  Caesars. 

Ben  Jonson :  The  Poetaster    (drama,  time   of  Au- 
gustus). 

Wallace  :  Ben  Hur  (romance,  time  of  Tiberius). 

Longfellow  :   The  Divine  Tragedy  (poem). 

Ben  Jonson :    Sejanus,    his    Fall   (drama,  time    of 
Tiberius). 

Becker:   Gallus  (romance,  with  notes,  time  of  Au- 
gustus). 

Scheie  De  Vere:   The   Great  Empress    (romance, 
time  of  Nero). 

Abbott:  The  History  of  Nero. 

W.  W.  Story:   Nero  (drama). 

Hoffman  :   The  Greek  Maid  at  the  Court  of  Nero 
(romance). 

Farrar  :   Seekers  after  God  (Seneca,  Epictetus). 

Wiseman :  The  Church  of  the  Catacombs  (romance, 
time  of  the  Persecutions). 

Mrs.   Charles:    The    Victory    of    the    Vanquished 
(romance). 


COUFSES  OP  READING  IN  HISTORY.     12  7 

Church    and  Brodribb:   Pliny's    Letters     (Ancient 

Classics). 
Bulwer  :    The  Last  Days  of  Pompeii  (romance,  time 

of  Vespasian). 
Massinger :    The  Roman    Actor    (drama,   time   of 

Domitian). 

■     The  Virgin  Martyr  (drama). 

Dickinson  :     The  Seed  of  the  Church. 
De  Mille  :    Helena's  Household. 
Lockhart :   Valerius. 

The  last  three  works  are  romances,  depict- 
ing life  and  manners  in  the  time  of  Trajan. 

For  the  period  of  the  later  Empire  and  the 
decline  of  the  Roman  power :  — 

Curteis  :   History  of  the  Roman  Empire  (395-800). 

Gibbon :  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

Ebers  :   The  Emperor  (romance,  time  of  Hadrian). 

Capes :   The  Age  of  the  Antonines. 

Watson :   Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus. 

Hodgkin  :   Italy  and  her  Invaders. 

William  Ware  :  Zenobia  (romance,  A.  D.  266). 

Aurelian  (romance,  A.  D.  275). 

Ebers  :  Homo  Sum  (romance,  A.  D.  330). 

Eckstein :  Quintus  Claudius  (romance,  time  of  Domi- 
tian). 

Aubrey  De  Vere :  Julian  the  Apostate  (drama, 
A.  D.  363). 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher:  Valentinian  (drama, 
A.  D.  375). 

Edward  Everett :  Alaric  the  Visigoth ;  and  Mrs. 
Hemans  :   Alaric  in  Italy  (poems,  A.  d.  410). 

Kingsley :   Hypatia  (romance,  A.  D.  415). 

Mrs.  Charles :  Conquering  and  to  Conquer  (ro- 
mance, A.  D.  418). 


128  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Mrs.  Charles :  Maid  and  Cleon  (romance  of  Alex- 
andria, A.  D.  425). 
Kingsley  :   Roman  and  Teuton. 
Church:   The  Beginning  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Literatare. 

Simcox :   History  of  Roman  Literature. 

Schlegel :   History  of  Dramatic  Literature. 

Collins:   Livy  (Ancient  Classics). 

Mallock  :   Lucretius  (Ancient  Classics). 

Trollope  :   Caesar  (Ancient  Classics). 

Collins  :  Cicero  (Ancient  Classics). 

Morris  :   The  ^neid  of  Virgil. 

Collins :  Virgil,  Ovid,  Lucian  (three  volumes  of 
Ancient  Classics). 

Epictetus :   Selections  from  Epictetus. 

Jackson:  Apostolic  Fathers  (Early  Christian  Lit- 
erature Primers). 

Special  Beference. 

Clough :   Plutarch's  Lives. 

White :  Plutarch  for  Boys  and  Girls. 

Kaufman:  The  Young  Folks'  Plutarch, 

Coulange :    The  Ancient  City. 
N^^JDraper :   History  of  the   Intellecttial  Development  of 
'  Europe- 

Lecky :   History  of  European  Morals. 

Milman  :    History  of  Christianity. 

Stanley  :    History  of  the  Eastern  Church. 

Fisher:   Beginnings  of  Christianity. 

Dollinger  :   The  First  Age  of  Christianity, 
y,    Montalembert :   The  Monks  of  the  West. 
-^  Reber  :   History  of  Ancient  Art. 

Hadley :   Lectures  on  Roman  Law. 

Maine :  Ancient  Law. 


COURSES  OP  READING  IN  HISTORY.  129 

III.  MEDIAEVAL  AND  MODERN  HISTORY. 

This  course  has  been  prepared  with  special 
reference  to  English  history.  The  right-hand 
column,  headed  Collateral  Reading,  will  assist 
students  desiring  to  extend  their  reading  so 
as  to  embrace  the  history  of  Continental 
Europe.  The  figures  affixed  to  some  of 
the  titles  indicate,  as  nearly  as  is  thought 
necessary,  the  time  covered  or  treated  of  by 
the  work  mentioned.  Historical  romances 
and  other  prose  works  of  fiction  are  desig- 
nated thus  (*)  ;  dramas  thus  (f)  ;  other 
poems  thus  (J). 


ENGLISH   HISTORY.      |     COLLATERAL  READ- 
ING. 
Oeneral  Hlitoriea. 


Knight  :  History  0/  England 
(9  vols. ). 

YoNGK :  Young  Folks'  His- 
tory OF  England. 

Dickens  :  Child's  History 
OF  England. 

Strickland  :  Lives  of  the 
Queens  of  England  (7  vols. ). 

Pearson:  Historical  Atlas  of 
England. 


White:  History  of  France. 

Lewis  :  Students'  History  of 
Germany. 

Hunt:  History  of  Italy. 

Yonge:  Young  Folks'  His- 
tory OF  France. 

Kirkland:  Short  History 
OF  France. 

Hallam  :  Viewof  the  State  of 
the  Middle  Ages. 


The  Anglo-S&zon  Period. 


Grren  :  History  of  the  Eng- 
lish People,  book  i. 

Mrs.  Akmitage  :  The  Child- 
hood of  the  English  Nation. 

Green  :  The  Making  of  Eng- 
land. 


GuizoT :    History  of  France, 

vol.  i. 
James  :    History    of    Charle- 
magne. 
Brycb:    The    Holy    Roman 
I      Empire. 
9 


130 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


Palgrave  :  History  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons. 

X  Paulinus  and  Edwin. 

Turner  :  History  of  the  A  rt- 
glo-Saxotis. 

Grant  Allen:  Anglo-Saxon 
Britain. 

Abbott:  Alfred  the 
Great. 

Hughes  :  Life  of  Alfred  the 
Great. 

Thierry  :  The  Conquest  of 
England  by  the  Normans. 

Abbott  :  William  the  Con- 
queror. 

Green  :  The  Conquest  of 
England. 

Freeman  :  History  of  the  Nor- 
man Conquest  of  England. 


CuTTs  :  Scenes  and  Charac- 
ters of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Johnson  :  The  Normans  in 
Europe. 

Carlyle:  The  Early  Kings 
of  Norway. 

Anderson  :  Norse  Mythology. 

Lettsom  :  X  The  Nibelungen- 
lied. 

Dasent  :  The  Burnt  Njal. 

Baldwin:  *Thb  Story  of 
Siegfried. 

Mallet:  Northern  Antiqui- 
ties. 


Mrs.  Charles  :  *  Early 
Dawn  (romance  of  the  Ro- 
man occupation  of  Britain). 

CowpER  :  X  Boadicea. 

Lanier  :  *The  Boy's  King 
Arthur. 

Lowell  :  X  The  Vision  of  Sir 
Launfal. 

Tennyson  :  X  The  Idylls  of 
the  King. 

Scott  :  X  Harold  the  Dauntless. 

Taylor  :  t  Edwin  the  Fair. 

BuLWER :  *  Harold,  the  Last 
of  the  Saxons  (io66). 

Tennyson:  tHarold;aDrama. 

Leighton  :  t  The  Sons  of 
Godwin. 

KiNGSLEY :  •  Hereward,  the 
Last  of  the  English. 


James  :  History  of  Chivalry. 

Bulfinch  :  ♦The  Age  of 
Chivalry. 

Lanier:  *  Knightly  Le- 
gends of  Wales. 

Ludlow  :  Popular  Epics  of 
the  Middle  Ages. 

Bulfinch  :  Legends  of  Char- 
lemagne. 

Baldwin  :  ♦  The  Story  of 
Roland. 

Ariosto:  t  Orlando  Furioso. 

Lockhart:  t  Spanish  Ballads. 

Yonge:  Christians  and  Moors 
in  Spain. 

Southey:  Chronicles  of  the 
Cid. 

Tennyson  :  X  Godiva  (1040). 


The  Age  of  FendaUsm. 


Johnson  :  The  Norman  Kings 
and  the  Feudal  System. 

Green  :  History  of  the  Eng- 
lish People,  books  ii.  and  iii. 


Guizot  :    History  of  France, 

vol.  ii. 
Cox :  The  Crusades. 


CO  URSES  OP  READING  IN  HIS  TORY.     1 3 1 


X 


Palgrave:     t  Death    in    the 

Forest  (iioo). 
Abbott  :  Richard  I. 
Hume  :  History  of  England. 
Froude  :    Life    and  Times  of 

Thomas  Becket. 
Aubrey     De     Vkre  :      t  St. 

Tliomas  of  Canterbury. 
Jambs:  Life  of  Richard  Cceur 

de  Lion. 
Froude  :    A    Bishop    of    the 

Twelfth  Century  ( 1 190). 
Stubbs  :  The  Early  Plantage- 

nets. 
Pylk:    The  Story  of  Robin 

Hood. 
Scott  :  *  The  Talisman  ( 1 193). 

*  Ivanhoe  (1194). 

James:  *  Forest  Days  (1214). 
Shakspeare:      t  King    John 

(1215)- 
Drayton:      $The      Barons' 

Wars. 
Pauli  :     Life    of    Simon    de 

Montfort  (1215). 
Pearson  :  English  History  in 

the  Fourteenth  Century. 
Yonge  :  *  The  Prince  and  the 

Page  (1280). 
Gray:  tThe  Bard  (1282). 
Cunningham  :*  Sir    Michael 

Scott  (1300). 
Porter  :       •  The       Scottish 

Chiefs. 
Aguilar:     'The     Days     of 

Bruce. 
Campbell:    tThe  Battle  of 

Bannockbum. 
Scott:    tThe   Lord    of  the 

Isles  (1307). 
Marlowe  :       t  Edward     IL 

(1327)- 
Warburton:     Edward    IH. 

(•327-77)- 
Abbott  :  Richard  II. 


Michaud:      History    of    the 

Crusades. 
Gray:    The   Children's   Cru-     X 

sade. 
Gairdner  :   Early  Chroniclers 

of  Europe. 
Oliphant:  Francis  of  Assist. 
Adams:  *Page,  Squire,  and 

Knight  (h8o). 
Henty:  *Thb  Boy  Knight 

(11 88). 
Scott  :  *  The  Betrothed. 
Yonge:    *  Richard  the  Fear- 
less. 
James:  *  Philip  Augustus. 
Scott  :     *  Count    Robert    of 

Paris. 
Hale  :  ♦  In  his  Name. 

Oliphant:    The    Makers    of 
Venice. 


Kingsley  :  tThe  Saint's 
Tragedy  (1220). 

Browning  :  t  Bordello  ( 1230). 

Kington-Oliphant  :  Fred- 
erick II.  (1250). 

Guizot:  History  of  France, 
vol.  iii. 

Hemans:  tThe  Vespers  of 
Palermo  (1282). 

Boker  :  t  Francesca  di  Rimini 
(1300). 

Schiller  :  t  Wilhelm  Tell. 

BuLWER :  •Rienzi,  the  Last  of 
the  Tribunes  (1347). 

Byron  :      t  Marino      Faliero 

('355)- 
Jamison  :  Life  of  Bertrand  du 

Guesclin. 
Lord  Houghton:  t  Bertrand 

du  Guesclin  (1380). 
Hotton  :    James  and  Philip 

Van  Artevelde. 


132 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


Lanier  :   The  Boy's  Frois- 

SART. 

Southey:  t  Wat  Tyler  (1381). 
Campbell:      tWat     Tyler's 

Address  to  the  King. 
Shakspearb:     t  Richard    II. 

(1399)- 

Besant  and  Rice:  Life  of 
Whittinglon. 

Percy  :  %  The  Ballad  of  Chevy 
Chase. 

Gairdner:  The  Houses  of 
Lancaster  and  York. 

Edgar:  The  Wars  of  the  Roses. 

Green  :  History  of  the  Eng- 
lish People,  book  iv. 

Shakspearh:  tKing  Henry 
IV. 

Yonge:  *The  Caged  Lion 
(1406). 

TowLB :  History  of  Henry  V. 

Ewald  :  The  Youth  of  Henry 
V.  (in  "  Stories  from  the 
State   Papers  " ). 

Gairdner  :  The  Lollards. 

Drayton;  JThe  Battle  of 
Agincourt  (1415). 

Shakspeare  :  t  King  Henry 
VI. 

Biilwer:  *The  Last  of  the 
Barons  (1460). 

Gairdner  :  History  of  Rich- 
ard III. 

The  Paston  Letters. 

Shakspeare  :  t  King  Richard 
III. 

Abbott:  History  of  Rich- 
ard III. 


Taylor  :  t  Philip  Van  Arte- 
velde  (1382). 

Mrs.  Bray  :  Joan  of  Arc  and 
the  Times  of  Charles  VII.  of 
France. 

Southey  :  %  Joan  of  Arc. 

Calvert  :  %  The  Maid  of  Or- 
leans. 

Lea:  History  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion. 

Oliphant:  The  Makers  of 
Florence. 


Browning  :  t  Laria  (1405). 


James  :  *  Agincourt. 

Kirk  :  History  of  Charles  the 

Bold. 
Scott  :    *  Quentin    Durward 

(1450). 
Byron  :    t  The    two    Foscari 

(>4S7). 

Herz  :  t  King  Rent's  Daugh- 
ter. 

Scott:  *Anne  of  Geierstein. 

Victor  Hugo  :  *  The  Hunch- 
back of  Notre  Dame. 

Browning  :  t  The  Return  of 
the  Druses. 

Macaulay  :  Essay  on  Machi- 
avelli. 


X 


Modem  England. 

Birch  all:  England  under  the 
Tudors. 

Green  :  History  of  the  Eng- 
lish People,  books  v.  and  vi. 


Prescott:  The  History  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 

Anita  George:  Isabel  the 
Catholic. 


COURSES  OF  READING  IN  HISTORY.     133 


Manning  :  The  Household  of 

Sir  Thomas  More. 
Scott:  t  Marraiou  (1513). 
James  :  *  Darnley  (1520). 
Froude  :  History  of  England 

from  the  Fall   of  Wolsey  to 

the  Death  of  Elizabeth. 
MiJHLBACH :    *  Henry    VIII. 

and  Catherine  Parr. 
Shakspeare:    t  King   Henry 

VIII. 
Geikie  :   History  of  the  Eng- 
lish Reformation. 
Milman  :      t  Anne      Boleyn 

(1536). 
AiNswoRTH  :      *  Tower    Hill 

(1538). 
Ewald:     Stories     from    the 

State  Papers. 
Mark  Twain  :  *Thk  Prince 

and  the  Pauper  (1548). 
Aubrey     Db   Verb:    t  Mary 

Tudor. 
Tbnnyson  :  t  Queen  Mary. 
Scott  :     t  Lay    of    the   Last 

Minstrel. 
Manning  :      *  Colloquies     of 

Edward  Osborne  (1554). 
Rowe  :      t  Lady    Jane    Grey 

(>554). 
Ainsworth:  *The  Tower  of 

London  (1554). 
Abbott  :  History  of  Queen 

Elizabeth. 
Creighton  :  The  Age  of  Eliza- 
beth. 
Scott  :  *  Kenil worth  (1360). 
V    Macaulay  :  Essays  on   Lord 
Burleigh  and  Bacon. 
Towle  :    Drake,    the    Sea 

King  of  Devon. 
Abbott:  History  of  Mary 

Queen  of  Scots. 
Scott  :  *  The  Monastery  and 
The  Abbot. 


Irving:  The  Conquest  of 
Granada. 

The  Alharabra. 

Aguilar:  *The  Edict  (1492). 

Robertson  :  History  of 
Charles   V. 

Seebohm  :  Era  of  the  Protes- 
tant Revolution. 

Fisher  :  History  of  the  Ref- 
ormation. 

YoNGE :  *  The  Dove  in  the 
Eagle's  Nest  (1519). 

Mrs.  Charles:  *  Chronicles 
of  the  Schonberg-Cotta 
Family. 

George  Eliot  :  *  Romola. 

Reads:  *The  Cloister  and 
the  Hearth. 

Mrs.  Stowe  :  *  Agnes  of 
Sorrento. 

Mrs.  Manning:  *Good  Old 
Times  (1549). 

Prescott  :  History  of  Philip 
II. 

Motley  :  The  Rise  of  the 
Dutch  Republic. 

History  of  the  United 

Netherlands. 

Yongk:  *The  Chaplet  of 
Pearls  (France,  1555). 

Barrett:  William  the  Silent 
(1533-1584)- 

Baird:  Rise  of  the  Hugue- 
nots. 

Smiles  :  The  Huguenots  in 
France. 

Abbott  :  History  of  Henry 
IV.  of  France. 

Guizot:  History  of  France, 
vol.  iv. 

Goethe  :  t  Egmont  (1568). 

James:    •The   Man-at-Arms 

('572)- 
Soothey  :      t  St.      Bartholo- 
mew's iJay  (1572)- 


134 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


YoNGE :    *  Unknown  to   His- 
tory (1587). 
Swinburne  :  t  Chastelard. 

t  Bothwell. 

t  Mary  Stuart  (1587). 

Schiller  :      t  Marie      Stuart 

(1587)- 

Meline  :  Life  of  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots  (Catholic). 

Kingsley:  *  Westward  Ho! 

Wordsworth  :  %  The  White 
Doe  of  Rylstone. 

Macaulay  :  X  The  Armada. 

Tennyson  :  X  The  Revenge. 

Towle:  Sir  Walter  Ralegh. 

Landor  :  Elizabeth  and  Bur- 
leigh (in  "  Imaginary  Con- 
versations"). 

Green  :  History  of  the  Eng- 
lish People,  book  vii. 

Cordery  and  Phillpott: 
King  and  Commonwealth. 

Gardiner  :  The  Puritan 
Revolution. 

AiNSWORTH :  *  Guy  Fawkes 
(1605). 

Scott:  *TheFortunesof  Nigel. 

AiNswoRTH :  *The  Spanish 
Match  (1620). 

Abbott:  History  of 
Charles  I. 

Letitia  E.  Landon  :  JThe 
Covenanters  (1638). 

Marryat:  *The  Children 
OF  THE  New  Forest. 

Scott  :  X  Rokeby  (1644). 

*  Legend  of  Montrose 

(1646). 

Praed:  t  Marston  Moor 
(1644). 

Carlyle:  History  of  Oliver 
Cromwell. 

GuizoT :  History  of  the  Eng- 
lish Revolution. 


AsTOR :  *  Valentino  ( 1505). 


Macaulav;  tIvry(i59o). 
Goethe  :     t  Torquato    Tasso 

(i59o). 
Trollope  :  *  Paul  the  Pope 

and  Paul  the  Friar. 


RoBSON :     Life    of    Cardinal 

Richelieu  (15S5-1642). 
James  :  *  Richelieu. 
Bulwer  :  t  Richelieu. 
Manzoni:     *The    Betrothed 

(1628). 
Goethe  :  t  The  Destruction  of 

Magdeburg. 
Schiller  :  t  Wallenstein 

(1634). 
Topelius:    *  Times  of  Gustaf 

Adolf. 
Gindely  :      History     of     the 

Thirty  Years'  War. 
Schiller:     History    of     the 

Thirty  Years'  War. 
Motley  :    Life    of    John    of 

Barneveld. 
Pardoe  :    *  Louis  XIV.   and 

the  Court  of  France. 
James  :  Louis  XIV. 


Guizot:    History  of   France, 
vol.  V. 


COURSES  OF  READING  IN  HISTORY.     135 


GoLDWiN  Smith  :  Three  Eng- 
lish Statesmen. 

Macaulay  :  tThe  Cavalier's 
March  to  London  (1651). 

Masson  :  Life  and  Times  of 
John  Milton. 

Vonge:  *  The  Pigeon  Pie;  a 
Tale  of  Roundhead  Times. 

Shorthouse  :  ♦  John  Ingle- 
sant. 

James:  *  The  Cavalier  (1651). 

Butler  :  t  Hudibras. 

Scott  :  *  Woodstock. 

Marvell  :  \  Blake's  Victory 
(1657)- 

Abbott:  History  of 
Charles  II. 

Dryden  :  X  Annus  Mirabilis 
(1666). 

Birchall:  England  under  the 
Stuarts. 

Fox:  Life  of  James  II. 

Ainsworth  :  *  James  II. 

James  :  *  Russell. 

Macaulay  :  History  of  Eng- 
land (1685-1702). 

Essay  on  Sir  William 

Temple. 

Aytoi;n  :     X  The    Widow    of 

Glencoe  (1692). 
Hale:      The     Fall    of    the 

Stuarts. 
Morris  :  The  Age  of  Anne. 
CoxE  :    Memoirs  of  the  Duke 

of  Marlborough. 
Scott:  *  Old  Mortality. 

*The   Bride  of  Lam- 

merraoor. 

Defoe:  •Memoirs  of  a  Cav- 
alier. 

-^— —  *  History  of  the  Great 
Plague  in  London. 

Addison  :  The  Spectator. 

Thackeray:  *  Henry  Es- 
mond. 


Abbott:    History  of  Loi;is 

XIV. 
Manning  :  *  Idyl  of  the  Alps. 
Bungener:  Bourdaloue and 

Louis  XIV. 
ToPELius :   *  Times  of  Battle 

and  Rest. 


Macaulay  :     X  Song    of    the 

Huguenots  (1685). 
Browning  :  X  Hervd  Riel. 
Abbott  :    History  of  Peter 

THE  Great. 
Schuyler':    History  of  Peter 

the  Great. 
Mahon  :  War  of  the  Spanish 

Succession. 
MiJHLBACH:  *  Prince  Eugene 

and  his  Times. 
ToPELius :  *  Times  of  Charles 

XII. 
Voltaire  :  History  of  Charles 

XII. 
Martineau:  *  Messrs.   Van- 

deput  and  Snoek  (1695). 
Lady    Jackson:      The    Old 

Rdgime    (Louis    XIV.   and 

XV.). 
Macaulay  :  Essay  on  the  War 

of  the  Succession  in  Spain. 


136 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


BtACKMORE :  *  Loma  Doone. 

Addison:  tTJie  Battle  of 
Blenheim  (i  704). 

Pepys  :  Diary  (1659-1703). 

Green  :  History  of  the  Eng- 
lish People,  book  viii. 

Lecky  :  History  of  England  in 
the  Eighteenth  Century. 

Green  :  History  of  the  Eng- 
lish People,  book  ix. 

Scott  :  *Rob  Roy  (1715)- 

*The  Heart  of  Mid- 
Lothian. 

Thackeray  :  Lectures  on  the 
Four  Georges. 

Stephen  :  History  of  English 
Thought  in  the  Eighteenth 
Century. 

Macaulay:  Essays  on  Lord 
Clive  and  Lord  Chatham. 

Froude  :  The  English  in  Ire- 
land in  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury. 

Campbell  :  X  Lochiel's  Warn- 
ing. 

Scott:  *Waverley  (1745). 

MoiR  :  X  The  Battle  of  Pres- 
tonpans(i745). 

Smollett:  JThe  Tears  of 
Scotland. 

Goldsmith:  *The  Vicar  of 
Wakefield. 

SouTHEV :  Life  and  Times  of 
John  Wesley. 

Mrs.  Charles:  ♦Diary  of 
Kitty  Trevylyan. 

Mitford  :  *  Our  Village. 

Edgeworth  :  *  Castle  Rack- 
rent. 

Thackeray:  *The  Virgini- 
ans (1775). 

Scott  :  *  Guy  Mannering. 

Dickens  :  *  Barnaby  Rudge 
(1780). 


ToPELius  :  *  Times  of  Fred- 
erick I.  (1721). 

Bungener  :  Louis  XV.  and 
his  Times. 

Helps  :  Ivan  de  Biron  (1740). 

Macaulay  :  Essay  on  Fred- 
erick the  Great. 

Abbott:  History  of  Marib 
Antoinette. 

Davis:  J  Fontenoy  (1745). 

Longman  :  Frederick  the 
Great  and  the  Seven  Years' 
War. 

Carlyle:  Life  of  Frederick 
the  Great. 

Yonge  :  Life  of  Marie  Antoi- 
nette. 

MUhlbach:  *  Frederick  the 
Great  and  his  Family. 

ToPELius:  *  Times  of  Lin- 
naeus. 

Guizot:  History  of  France, 
vol.  vi. 

ToPELius:  *Timesof  Alchemy. 

Taine:  The  Ancient  Regime. 

Abbott:  The  French  Revo- 
lution of  1789. 

History  of  the  Em- 


press Josephine. 
History  of  Madame 


Roland. 
History    of     Queen 

hortense. 
Alison  :    History    of  Europe 

(1789-1815),     abridged      by 

Gould. 


COURSES  OF  READING  IN  HISTORY.     137 


Macau  LAY :  Essays  on  Warren 
Hastings,  William  Pitt,  and 
Barfere. 

GoLDwiN  Smith  :  Three  Eng- 
lish Statesmen. 

Trevelyan  :  Early  History 
of  Charles  James  Fox. 

Wade  :  Letters  of  Junius. 

Morley:  Edmund  Burke,  a 
Historical  Sketch. 

Blackmore:  *The  Maid  of 
Sker. 

George  Eliot  :  *  Adam  Bede. 

Cooper  :  *  Wing  and  Wmg. 

Lever:  'Charles  O'Malley. 

Mrs.  Charles:  *  Against  the 
Stream. 

Thackeray  :  *  Vanity  Fair. 


Taine  :  Origins  of  Contempo- 
rary France. 

Van  Laun:  The  French 
Revolutionary  Epoch. 

Adams  :  Democracy  and  Mon- 
archy in  France. 

Victor  Hugo  ;  *  Ninety- 
Three. 

Coleridge  t  Destruction  of 
the  Bastile. 

Renaud:  JThe  Last  Ban- 
quet. 

ErCKMANN      -      CHATRIA^f      : 

•  Year  One  of  the  Republic. 

Dickens:  *A  Tale  of  Two 
Cities. 

Blackmore  :  *  Alice  Lor- 
raine. 

Trollope  :  *  La  Vendee. 

Saintine:  *Picciola. 


Maginn:  •Whitehall. 

Palgrave  :  X  Trafalgar  (1805). 

Robert  Buchanan  :  t  The 
Shadow  of  tlie  Sword. 

Kingsley  :  *  Alton  Locke. 

Disraeli  :  *  Sybil. 

SouTHEY :  X  The  Battle  of 
Algiers  (1815). 

McCarthy  :  History  of  our 
own  Times. 

Martineau  :  History  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  Peace. 

Carlyle:  Latter-Day  Pam- 
phlets. 

Disraeli  :  •  Lothair. 

KiNGLAKE  :  The  Invasion  of 
the  Crimea. 


Fritz  Rbuter  :  •  In  the  Year 
Thirteen. 

Erckmann-Chatrian  :  *  The 
Conscript ;  The  Invasion  of 
France  in  1814;  and  Water- 
loo. 

Byron  :  X  The  Battle  of  Water- 
loo. 

Moore  :  *  The  Fudge  Family 
in  Paris. 

Martineau:  •French  Wine 
and  Politics. 

Victor  Hugo  :  •  Les  Mis^ra- 
bles. 

GuizoT  :  France  under  Louis 
Philippe. 

Victor  Hugo:  The  History 
of  a  Crime. 

BuLWER  :  •The  Parisians. 

Washburne:  Recollections  of 
a  Minister  to  France. 

Forbes  :  The  Franco-German 
War. 


138  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

IV.  AMERICAN   HISTORY. 

General  Histories. 

Bancroft:    History  of  the    United  States   (12   vols., 

from  the  discovery  of  America  to  the  adoption  of 

the  Constitution). 
Hildreth :  History  of  the  United  States  (6  vols.,  from 

the  discovery  of  America  to  1820). 
Bryant  and  Gay :   History  of  the  United  States  (from 

the  discovery  to  1880). 
Ridpath  :   History  of  the  United  States. 
Higginson :    Young    Folk's    History    of    the 

United  States. 

Aboriginal  America. 
Baldwin :   Ancient  America. 
Donnelly :   Atlantis. 

Foster :   Prehistoric  Races  of  the  United  States. 
Short :   North  Americans  of  Antiquity. 
Ellis :   The  Red  Man  and  the  White  Man. 
H.    H.    Bancroft:    Native    Races    of    the    Pacific 

States. 
Charnay :  The  Ancient  Cities  of  the  New  World. 

The  Period  of  the  Discovery. 

Irving:   Columbus  and  his  Companions. 
Abbott:   Christopher  Columbus. 

Discovery  of  America. 

Towle  :   Vasco  da  Gama. 

Helps  :   The  Spanish  Conquest  of  America  (4  vols.). 

Prescott :   The  Conquest  of  Mexico  {3  vols.). 

Abbott :   Hernando  Cortez. 

Helps :    Hernando  Cortez. 

Eggleston :   Montezuma, 

Wallace  :  *The  Fair  God,  or  the  Last  of  the  'Tzins. 


COURSES  OF  READING  IN  HISTORY.     139 

Prescott :   The  Conquest  of  Peru  (2  vols.)- 
Towle :    PiZARRO. 

Magellan. 

Irving:   The  Conquest  of  Florida  by  De  Soto. 

Abbott:  De  Soto. 

Simms:   *Vasconselos  (1538). 

Towle:  Drake,  the  Sea-King  of  Devon. 

Sir  Walter  Ralegh. 

Hale :    Stories  of  Discovery. 

Simms :  *The  Lily  and  the  Totem  (the  story  of  the 
Huguenots  at  St.  Augustine). 

The  Colonial  Period. 

Coffin  :  Old  Times  in  the  Colonies. 
Simms  :   Life  of  John  Smith. 
Kingston:  *The  Settlers  (1607). 
Eggleston  :   Pocahontas. 
Abbott :  The  Northern  Colonies. 

Miles  Standish. 

Longfellow :  X  The  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish. 
Mrs.  Child :  *The  First  Settlers  of  New  England. 

*Hobomok. 

Drake :  The  Making  of  New  England. 

Clay :  Annals  of  the  Swedes  on  the  Delaware. 

Banvard :  Pioneers  of  the  New  World. 

J.  G.  Holland  :  *  The  Bay  Path  ( 1638). 

Paulding:  * Koningsmarke  (a  tale  of  the  Swedes  on 

the  Delaware). 
Mrs.  Lamb :  History  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
Abbott:   Peter  Stuyvesant. 
Irving :  *  Knickerbocker's  History  of  New  York. 
Abbott :   King  Philip. 
Markham :   King  Philip's  War. 
Cooper:  *The  Wept  of  Wish-ton- Wish  {1675). 
Palfrey:   History  of  New  England  (4  vols.). 
Hawthorne  :  *  The  Scarlet  Letter. 


140  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Spofford  :   New  England  Legends. 

Longfellow :    %  New  England  Tragedies. 

Whittier:   J  Ballads  of  New  England. 

Hale  :    Stories  of  Adventure. 

Abbott :  Captain  Kidd. 

Banvard:    Southern  Explorers. 

Abbott:  The  Southern  Colonies. 

Cooke  :  Stories  of  the  Old  Dominion. 

Simms  :   *  The  Cassique  of  Kiawah  (a  story  of  the 

early  settlement  of  South  Carolina,  1684). 
De  Vere  :   Romance  of  American  History. 
Abbott:  Chevalier  de  la  Salle. 
Parkman :   Discovery  of  the  Great  West. 

■    The  Jesuits  in  North  America. 

Sparks  :    Life  of  Father  Marquette. 

Shea :  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi. 

Parkman  :   Frontenac,  and  New  France  under  Louis 

XIV. 
Simms:   *The  Yemassee  (1715). 
Longfellow :    %  Evangeline. 
Johnson:   The  Old  French  War. 
Parkman :   Montcalm  and  Wolfe. 

The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac. 

Paulding:  *The  Dutchman's  Fireside. 
Cooper:  *The  Pathfinder. 

*  The  Last  of  the  Mohicans. 

Kennedy:  *  Swallow  Barn. 

Mrs.  Stowe  :  *  The  Minister's  Wooing. 
Thackeray  :  *  The  Virginians. 

The  Period  of  the  Bevolution. 

Abbott :  The  War  of  the  Revolution. 

George  Washington. 

Irving :   Life  of  George  Washington  (5  vols.). 
Headley :   Washington  and  his  Generals. 
Longfellow  :   \  Paul  Revere's  Ride. 


COURSES  OF  READING  IN  HISTORY.     14T 

Holmes :  %  Grandmother's  Story  of   the    Battle  of 

Bunker  Hill. 
Coffin:  The  Boys  of  '76. 
Cooper:  *The  Spy. 

*  The  Pilot. 

Neal:  *  Seventy-Six. 

Greene :   Life  of  Nathanael  Greene. 
Abbott:  Life  of  Benjamin  Franklin. 
Parton:   Life  of  Benjamin  Franklin. 
Sparks :  The  Works  of  Benjamin  Franklin. 

Treason  of  Benedict  Arnold. 

Arnold:   Life  of  Benedict  Arnold. 
Campbell :    |  Gertrude  of  Wyoming. 
Mrs.  Child:   *The  Rebels. 
Paulding:  *The  Old  Continentals. 

*The  Bulls  and  the  Jonathans. 

Simms:  *Euta\v. 

Kennedy :  *  Horse-vShoe  Robinson. 
Grace  Greenwood  :  *  The  Forest  Tragedy. 
Lossing :   Field  Book  of  the  Revolution. 
Carrington :   Battles  of  the  Revolution. 
Wirt:   The  Life  of  Patrick  Henry. 
Dwight:   Lives  of  the  Signers. 
Magoon  :   Orators  of  the  American  Revolution. 
Greene  :   Historical  View  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion. 

From  the  Close  of  the  Revolution. 

McMaster :  History  of  the  People  of  the  United 
States  from  the  Revolution  to  the  Civil  War. 

Frothingham :  Rise  of  the  Republic  in  the  United 
States. 

Curtis  :   History  of  the  Constitution. 

Von  Hoist :  Constitutional  History  of  the  United 
States. 

Nordhoff:  Politics  for  Young  Americans. 


142  THE  BOOK  LOVER. 

Coffin:  Building  of  the  Nation. 
Lodge :  Life  of  Alexander  Hamilton. 

Morse  :  Life  of  John  Adams. 

Life  of  Jefferson. 

Abbott:  Life  of  Daniel  Boone. 

John    Esten    Cooke :    *  Leatherstocking   and    Silk 

(1800). 
Cable:  *The  Grandissimes. 
Cooper :  *  The  Prairie. 

Simms :  *  Beauchampe,  or  the  Kentucky  Tragedy. 
Parton  :  Life  of  Aaron  Burr. 
Hale  :  *  Philip  Nolan's  Friends. 

y^. *  The  Man  without  a  Country. 

Drake :  The  Making  of  the  Great  West. 

Lewis    and    Clarke's    Journey   across    the    Rocky 

Mountains. 
Irving :  Astoria. 

Adventures  of  Captain  Bonneville. 

Eggleston :  Brant  and  Red  Jacket. 
Johnson:  The  War  of  1812. 

Lossing:  Field  Book  of  the  War  of  l8i2. 

Iron:  *The  Double  Hero. 

Gleig :  *  The  Subaltern, 

Cooper :  History  of  the  American  Navy. 

Gay :  Life  of  James  Madison. 

Gilman :  Life  of  James  Monroe. 

Morse  :  Life  of  J.  Q.  Adams. 

Sumner:  Andrew  Jackson. 

Von  Hoist:  Life  of  J.  C.  Calhoun. 

Lodge :  Daniel  Webster. 

Whipple :  Webster's  Best  Speeches. 

Schurz :  Henry  Clay. 

Ripley  :  The  War  with  Mexico. 

Kendall :  The  Santa  Fe  Expedition. 

Wilson:  History  of  the  Rise  and  fall  of  the  Slave 
Power  in  America. 


y 


COURSES  OF  READING  IN  HISTORY.    143 

King :  The  Great  South. 

Olmsted  :  The  Sea-Board  Slave  States. 

Mrs.  Stowe  :  *  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin. 

Hildreth :  *  The  White  Slave. 

Whittier :  |Voices  of  Freedom. 

Greeley:  The  American  Conflict. 

Lossing :  The  Civil  War  in  the  United  States. 

Draper :  History  of  the  American  Civil  War. 

Stephens :  Constitutional  History  of  the  War  be- 
tween the  States  (Southern  view). 

Harper's  Pictorial  History  of  the  Great  Rebellion. 

Champlin :  Young  Folks'  History  of  the  War 
FOR  THE  Union. 

Coffin:  The  Boys  of  '61. 

Arnold  :  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Hale  :  Stories  of  War. 

Richardson :  Field,  Dungeon,  and  Escape. 

Swinton  :  Twelve  Decisive  Battles  of  the  War. 

Cooke :  Life  of  General  Lee. 

Whittier:  |In  War  Time. 

Lester  :  Our  First  Hundred  Years. 

Lossing  :  The  American  Centenary. 

Coffin  :  Drum-Beat  of  the  Nation. 

Williams :  History  of  the  Negro  Troops  in  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion. 

Headley:  Heroes  of  the  Rebellion  (6  vols.). 

Grant :  Personal  Memoirs. 

"  H.  H." :  A  Century  of  Dishonor. 

American  Commonwealths,  —  Virginia,  Oregon, 
Maryland,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Kansas, 
California,  New  York,  Connecticut  (10  vols.). 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


CCour0£0  of  Eeatimg  m  ©cogtapl^g  anti 
Natural  J^tstorg. 

EOGRAPHY  is  learned  best  by  the 
careful  reading  of  books  of  travel. 
Pupils  would  derive  infinitely  more 
knowledge  by  the  use,  under  judi- 
cious instructors,  of  a  library  of  this  sort,  than 
by  years  of  drudging  through  those  masses  of 
inanity  known  as  School  Geographies.  The 
following  list  is  designed  chiefly  to  aid  teach- 
ers in  the  selection  of  books  suitable  for 
geographical  study  at  school,  and  to  assist 
private  readers  in  the  choice  of  useful  and 
entertaining  works  on  the  various  subjects  of 
interest  in  our  own  and  foreign  countries. 

A  good  atlas  is  the  first  desideratum,  and 
is  an  indispensable  auxiliary  to  the  course  of 
reading  here  indicated.  Rand,  McNally,  & 
Co.'s  Atlas  is  one  of  the  latest  publications, 
and  perhaps  the  most  accurate  and  complete 
144 


GEOGRAPHY  AND  NATURAL  HISTORY.  145 

in  the  market.  Among  other  very  good  works 
of  this  kind  we  may  mention  Gray's,  Johnson's, 
Colton's,  and  Zell's,  any  one  of  which  will  an- 
swer all  the  ordinary  purposes  of  the  reader. 
When  no  complete  work  is  available,  the  maps 
in  the  larger  school  geographies  will  render 
very  fair  service. 

The  World. 

Coffin:  Our  New  Way  round  the  World. 

Curtis :   Dottings  round  the  Circle. 

Dana:  Two  Years  before  the  Mast. 

Hall :  Drifting  round  the  World. 

Stevens :  Around  the  World  on  a  Bicycle. 

Prime  :   Around  the  World. 

Pumpelly :   Across  America  and  Asia. 

Smiles :  A  Boy's  Journey  round  the  World. 

Nordhoff :  Man-of-War  Life. 

Knox :  The  Young  Nimrods  around  the  World. 

Hale:   Stories  of  the  Sea,  told  by  Sailors. 

Verne :  Famous  Travels  and  Travellers. 

The  Great  Navigators. 

The   Explorers   of   the    Nineteenth 

Century. 

Figuier :   The  Ocean  World. 

The  Insect  World. 

Mrs.  Brassey  :   Voyage  in  the  Sunbeam. 
Ainsworth  :   All  round  the  World. 
Harper :  What  Darwin  Saw. 
Humboldt :   Cosmos. 

North  America. 

Butterworth :    Zigzag   Journeys   in   the   Occi- 
dent. 
Knox :  The  Young  Nimrods  in  North  America. 


146  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Rideing:  Boys  in  the  Mountains. 

Hawthorne :  American  Nights'  Entertain- 
ment. 

Ingersoll :  Friends  Worth  Knowing  ;  Glimpses 
of  American  Natural  History. 

Hale:  Stories  of  Discovery. 

Say :   Insects  of  North  America. 

Drake:   Nooks  and   Corners  of  the  New  England 

Coast. 
Flagg:   The  Woods  and  By- Ways  of  New  England. 
Nordhoff :  *Cape  Cod  and  all  along  Shore. 
Thoreau :   The  Maine  Woods. 

A  Week  on  the  Concord. 

■ Cape  Cod. 

Excursions  in  Field  and  Forest. 

Samuels  :   The  Birds  of  New  England. 
Scudder :  The  Bodleys  Afoot. 

Drake :  Around  the  Hub  ;  A  Boy's  Book  about 

Boston. 
Longfellow :   Poems  of  Places,  vol.  xxvi. 

Murray:  Adventures  in  the  Wilderness;  or,  Camp 

Life  in  the  Adirondacks. 
Warner:   The  Adirondacks  Verified. 
Bromfield :    Picturesque  Journeys  in  America. 
Jordan:   Vertebrates  of  the  Northern  States. 
Appleton:   Picturesque  America. 

Our  Native  Land. 

Howells:  *  Their  Wedding  Journey. 
Longfellow  :   Poems  of  Places,  vol.  xxvii. 

King:  The  Great  South. 
Olmsted:   The  Sea-Board  Slave  States. 
Baldwin :    The  Flush  Times  of  Alabama  and  Mis- 
sissippi. 
Pollard:  The  Virginia  Tourist. 


GEOGRAPHY  AND  NATURAL  HISTORY.  147 

Twain :   Life  on  the  Mississippi. 
Lanier :    Florida ;  its  Scenery. 
Porte  Crayon :    Virginia  Illustrated. 
Longfellow  :   Poems  of  Places,  vol.  xxviii. 

Lewis  and   Clarke's  Expedition  across  the  Rocky 

Mountains. 
Irving:   Astoria. 

Adventures  of  Captain  Bonneville. 

— '■ —     A  Tour  on  the  Prairies. 

Meline:   Two  Thousand  Miles  on  Horseback. 

Richardson:   Beyond  the  Mississippi. 

Browne :   Crusoe's  Island. 

Nordhoff:   Northern  California. 

Taylor  :   Eldorado. 

Codman:   The  Round  Trip. 

Bird  :   A  Lady's  Life  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Ingersoll :   Knocking  round  the  Rockies. 

Cozzens:  The  Marvellous  Country;  or, Three  Years 

in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico. 
Browne :   The  Apache  Country. 
Taylor :    Colorado  ;  A  Summer  Trip. 
Richardson  :   Wonders  of  the  Yellowstone. 
Longfellow :   Poems  of  Places,  vol.  xxix. 

Robinson:   The  Great  Fur  Land. 
Butler:   The  Great  Lone  Land. 

The  Wild  North  Land. 

Hartwig :   The  Polar  World. 
Hayes  :   The  Land  of  Desolation. 
Blake :   Arctic  Experiences. 

Nourse:   American  Explorations  in  the  Ice  Zones. 
Burton :   Ultima  Thule. 
Stephens  :  Off  to  the  Geysers. 

Haven :   Our  Next-Door  Neighbor. 
Wilson  :   Mexico  ;  its  Peasants  and  Priests. 


148  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Brigham :  Guatemala.    The  Land  of  the  Quetzal. 
Stephens  :   Travels  in  Yucatan. 

Travels  in  Central  America. 

Squier :   The  States  of  Central  America. 

Ober  :  *  The  Silver  City. 

Kingsley :  At  Last ;  a  Christmas  in  the  West  Indies. 

Hurlbert :  Gan  Eden ;  or,  Pictures  of  Cuba. 

Dana:   To  Cuba  and  Back. 

South  America. 

Holton :   New  Granada. 

Orton :   The  Andes  and  Amazon. 

Agassiz:   Journey  in  Brazil. 

Ewbank:    Life  in  Brazil. 

Fletcher:    Brazil  and  the  Brazilians. 

Bishop :    A    Thousand    Miles'    Walk    across 

South  America. 
Marcoy :   Travels  across  South  America. 
Hassaurek:   Four  Years  among  Spanish  Americans. 
Squier :   Peru. 

Orton  :   *  The  Secret  of  the  Andes. 
Stephens :  On  the  Amazons. 
Dixie :   Across  Patagonia. 
Reid:  *The  Land  of  Fire. 
Longfellow :   Poems  of  Places,  vol.  xxx. 

Europe. 

Eutterworth:  Zigzag  Journeys  in  Europe. 

Champney:  Three  Vassar  Girls  Abroad. 

Scudder:  The  English  Bodley  Family. 

Hawthorne :   Our  Old  Home. 

Taine  :   Notes  on  England. 

Escott :   England. 

Miller  :    First    Impressions    of    England    and    its 

People. 
Emerson :   English  Traits. 


GEOGRAPHY  AND  NATURAL  HISTORY.  149 

Hoppin :  Old  England ;  Its  Scenery,  Art,  and  People. 
Abbott :   A  Summer  in  Scotland. 
Miller :   Scenes  and  Legends  of  the  North  of  Scot- 
land. 
White  :   Natural  History  of  Selborne. 
Longfellow  :   Poems  of  Places,  vols.  i.-v. 

Longfellow :   Outre  Men 

Taylor:   Views  Afoot. 

Macquoid :    Through  Normandy. 

Hamerton :    Round  My  House. 

Hale  :    A    Family    Flight    through    France, 

Germany,  and  Switzerland. 
Walworth  :    The    Old    World    seen    through 

Young  Eyes. 
Bulwer :   France,  Literary,  Social,  and  Political. 
Longfellow:   Poems  of  Places,  vols,  vi.-x. 

Taine :   Tour  through  the  Pyrenees. 

Hale :  A  Family  Flight  through  Spain. 

De  Amicis :   Spain  and  the  Spaniards. 

Bodfish  :   Through  Spain  on  Donkey-Back. 

Hare  :   Wanderings  in  Spain. 

Hay :   Castilian  Days. 

Irving:  The  Alhambra. 

Spanish  Papers. 

Andersen  :   Pictures  of  Travel. 
Latouche :   Travels  in  Portugal. 
Longfellow  :   Poems  of  Places,  vols,  xiv.,  xv. 

Butterworth  :  Zigzag  Journeys  m  Cla.ssic  Lands. 
Browne :    Yusef ;    Travels   on    the    Shores  of   the 

Mediterranean. 
Eustis  :   Classical  Tour  through  Italy. 
Dickens  :   Pictures  from  Italy. 
Hare :  Cities  of  Northern  and  Central  Italy. 
— — ^    Days  near  Rome. 


150  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Hawthorne :   English  and  Italian  Notes. 
Howells :   Italian  Journeys. 

Venetian  Life. 

Taine  :   Italy  (Florence  and  Venice). 

Italy  (Rome  and  Naples). 

Di  Cesnola :   Cyprus. 

Longfellow  :   Poems  of  Places,  vols.  xi.-xiiL 

Stephens :   Travels  in  Greece  and  Turkey. 

Mahaffy  :   Rambles  and  Studies  in  Greece. 

Baird  :   Modern  Greece. 

Townsend :   A  Cruise  in  the  Bosphorus. 

De  Amicis:   Constantinople. 

Gautier :   Constantinople. 

Longfellow  :   Poems  of  Places,  vol.  xix. 

Waring  :   Tyrol  and  the  Skirt  of  the  Alps. 

Whymper:   Scrambles  among  the  Alps. 

Taylor:   The  By- Ways  of  Europe. 

Hugo :   Tour  on  the  Rhine. 

Browne :  An  American  Family  in  Germany. 

Hawthorne  :    Saxon  Studies. 

Hugo :    Home-Life  in  Germany. 

Baring-Gould :   Germany,  Past  and  Present. 

De  Amicis :    Holland. 

Scudder:  The  Bodlevs  in  Holland. 

Dodge  :  *  Hans  Brinker,  or  the  Silver  Skates. 

Havard:   Picturesque  Holland. 

Butterworth :    Zigzag    Journeys    in    Northern 

Lands. 
Taylor :   Northern  Europe. 
Browne :   Land  of  Thor. 

Du  Chaillu  :    The  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun. 
Andersen :   Pictures  of  Travel  in  Sweden. 
MacGregor :   Rob  Roy  on  the  Baltic. 
Longfellow  :   Poems  of  Places,  vols,  xvii.,  xviii. 


GEOGRAPHY  AND  NATURAL  HISTORY.  151 

Butterworth :  Zigzag  Journeys  in  the  Orient. 

Gautier  :    A  Winter  in  Russia. 

Wallace :   Russia. 

Richardson  :   Ralph's  Year  in  Russia. 

Morley :   Sketches  of  Russian  Life. 

Dixon :  Free  Russia. 


Asia. 

Kennan:  Tent  Life  in  Siberia. 

McGahan  :   Campaigning  on  the  Oxus. 

Burnaby :   A  Ride  to  Khiva. 

Schuyler :   Turkistan. 

Taylor :   Central  Asia. 

Arnold  :   Through  Persia  by  Caravaiu 

Stack:    Six  Months  in  Persia. 

Vamb^ry :   Travels  in  Central  Asia. 

O'Donovan  :   The  Merv  Oasis. 

Curtis  :   The  Howadji  in  Syria. 

Kinglake :   Eothen. 

MacGregor :   Rob  Roy  on  the  Jordan. 

Prime  :   Tent  Life  in  the  Holy  Land. 

Taylor:  Travels  in  Arabia. 

Geikie :  The  Holy  Land  and  the  Bible. 

Keane  :   Six  Months  in  Mecca. 

Baker :   Rifle  and  Hound  in  Ceylon. 

Butler  :   The  Land  of  the  Vedas. 

French :   Our  Boys  in  India. 

Knox:    The    Boy    Travellers    in    India   and 

Ceylon. 

The  Boy  Travellers  in  Siam  and  Java. 

Vincent :  The  Land  of  the  White  Elephant. 
Leonowens :   An  English  Governess  at  the  Siamese 

Court. 
Kingston  :  *  In  Eastern  Seas. 


152  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Wilson  :   The  Abode  of  Snow. 

Markham:   Thibet. 

Gordon :   The  Roof  of  the  World. 

Williams :  The  Middle  Kingdom. 

Taylor  :   India,  China,  and  Japan. 

French:   Our  Boys  in  China. 

Eden :   China,  Japan,  and  India. 

Oppert :   Corea. 

Knox:  THE    P.oY    Travellers    in    Japan    and 

China. 
Miller :  Little  People  of  Asia. 

Child  Life  in  Japan. 

Greey:   The  Wonderful  City  of  TOKIO. 

The  Bear  Worshippers. 

Griffis  :   The  Mikado's  Empire. 
Bird  :   Unbeaten  Tracks  in  Japan. 
Longfellow  •   Poems  of  Places,  vols,  xxi.-xxiii. 

Africa. 

Hale:    A    Family   Flight    over    Egypt    and 

Syria. 
Knox:  The  Boy  Travellers  in  Egypt. 

The  Boy  Travellers  in  Central  Africa, 

McCabe :  Our  Young  Folks  in  Africa. 

Du  Chaillu:   Wild  Life  under  the  Equator. 

The  Country  of  the  Dwarfs. 

Baker:  *Cast  up  by  the  Sea. 

Stanley:  *  My  Kalulu. 
Baker :   Ismailia. 

Albert  N'Yanza. 

Speke  :  Journal  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Source  of 

the  Nile. 
Edwards :   A  Thousand  Miles  up  the  Nile. 
Taylor :   Central  Africa. 
Schweinfurth :  The  Heart  of  Africa. 


GEOGRAPHY  AND  NATURAL  HISTORY.  153 

Livingstone :   Last  Journals. 
Stanley  :    How  I  found  Livingstone. 

Through  the  Dark  Continent. 

Du  Chaillu :    Explorations  in  Central  Africa. 

'■ —      Journey  to  Ashango  Land. 

Knox :  The  Boy  Travellers  on  the  Congo. 
Livingstone :  South  Africa. 
Cumming :   Hunter's  Life  in  South  Africa. 
MacLeod :   Madagascar  and  its  People. 
Longfellow  :   Poems  of  Places,  vol.  xxiv. 

Anstralia  and  the  Pacific. 

Grant :   Bush  Life  in  Australia. 

Cook:   Voyages  round  the  World. 

Gironierre  :  Twenty  Years  in  the  Philippine  Islands. 

Nordhoff :   Stories  of  the  Island  World. 

Cheever :   The  Island  World  of  the  Pacific. 

Lament :   Wild  Life  among  the  Pacific  Islanders. 

Bird  :    Six  Months  among  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

Dana  :   Corals  and  Coral  Islands. 

Knox:  The  Boy  Travellers  in  Australasia. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Pf)il[fl2opf)2  anti  Eclfgton. 

A  LITTLE  philosophy  inclineth  a  man's  mind  to  athe- 
ism, but  depth  in  philosophy  bringeth  men's  minds  about 
to  religion.  —  Bacon. 


HE    books    which    help   you   most 

are   those  which  make  you  think 

the  most,"  says  Theodore  Parker. 

''The  hardest  way  of  learning  is 

by  easy  reading ;  every  man  that  tries  it  finds 

it  so." 

And  apropos  of  this,  I  present  the  following 
list  of  books  recommended  by  Dr.  John 
Brown  as  suitable  for  the  reading  of  young 
medical  students.  Yet  not  only  medical  stu- 
dents, but  students  of  other  special  subjects, 
and  teachers  as  well,  will  find  it  profitable  to 
dig  into  and  through,  to  "energize  upon" 
and  master,  such  books  as  these :  — 
'54 


PHILOSOPHY  AND  RELIGION.         §55 

1.  Arnauld's  Port  Royal  Logic ;  translated  by  T. 

S.  Baynes. 

2.  Thomson's  Outlines  of  the  Necessary  Laws  of 

Thought. 

3.  Descartes  on  the  Method  of  Rightly  Conduct- 

ing the   Reason  and   Seeking  Truth  in  the 
Sciences. 

4.  Coleridge's  Essay  on  Method. 

5.  Whately's  Logic  and  Rhetoric  (new  and  cheap 

edition). 

6.  Mill's  Logic  (new  and  cheap  edition). 

7.  Dugald  Stewart's  Outlines. 

8.  Sir  John  Herschel's  Preliminary  Dissertation. 

9.  Isaac  Taylor's  Elements  of  Thought. 

10.  Sir  William  Hamilton's  edition  of  Reid:   Dis- 

sertations and  Lectures. 

11.  Professor  Eraser's  Rational  Philosophy. 

12.  Locke  on  the  Conduct  of  the  Understanding. 

"  Taking  up  a  book  like  Arnauld,  and  read- 
ing a  chapter  of  his  lively,  manly  sense,"  says 
Rab's  friend,  "  is  like  throwing  your  manuals, 
and  scalpels,  ahd  microscopes,  and  natural 
(most  unnatural)  orders  out  of  your  hand  and 
head,  and  taking  a  game  with  the  Grange 
Club,  or  a  run  to  the  top  of  Arthur  Seat. 
Exertion  quickens  your  pulse,  expands  your 
lungs,  makes  your  blood  warmer  and  redder, 
fills  your  mouth  with  the  pure  waters  of  relish, 
strengthens  and  supples  your  legs  ;  and  though 
on  your  way  to  the  top  you  may  encounter 
rocks,  and  baffling  debris,  and  gusts  of  fierce 
winds  rushing  out  upon  you   from   behind 


1^6  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

comers,  just  as  you  will  find,  in  Arnauld  and 
all  truly  serious  and  honest  books  of  the  kind, 
difficulties  and  puzzles,  winds  of  doctrine,  and 
deceitful  mists,  still  you  are  rewarded  at  the 
top  by  the  wide  view.  You  see,  as  from  a 
tower,  the  end  of  all.  You  look  into  the  per- 
fections and  relations  of  things ;  you  see  the 
clouds,  the  bright  lights,  and  the  everlasting 
hills  on  the  horizon.  You  come  down  the 
hill  a  happier,  a  better,  and  a  hungrier  man, 
and  of  a  better  mind.  But,  as  we  said,  you 
must  eat  the  book,  —  you  must  crush  it,  and 
cut  it  with  your  teeth,  and  swallow  it ;  just  as 
you  must  walk  up,  and  not  be  carried  up,  the 
hill,  much  less  imagine  you  are  there,  or  look 
upon  a  picture  of  what  you  would  see  were 
you  up,  however  accurately  or  artistically 
done;  no, — you  yourself  must  do  both." 

The  same  may  be  said  of  all  books  that  are 
the  most  truly  helpful  to  us,  and  mind-lifting. 
It  is  the  hard  reading  that  profits  most, 
provided,  always,  that  due  care  be  taken  to 
digest  that  which  is  read.  Yet  I  would  not 
recommend  the  same  strong  diet  or  the  same 
severe  exercise  to  every  person,  or  even  to 
any  considerable  proportion  of  readers.  One 
man  may  be  a  palm,  as  says  Dr.  CoUyer,  and 
another  a  pine ;  that  which  is  wisdom  to  the 


PHILOSOPHY  AND  RELIGION.         157 

one  may  be  incomprehensible  folly  to  the 
other.  But  those  whose  mental  constitutions 
are  sufficiently  vigorous  to  digest  and  assimi- 
late the  food  which  the  philosophers  offer, 
may  find  comfort  and  health,  not  only  in 
the  works  above  recommended,  but  in  the 
following :  — 

Plato's  Works  :   Jowett's  translation. 

G.  H.  Lewes  :   A  Chapter  from  Aristotle. 

Lord  Bacon  :   Novum  Organum. 

Butler :  Analogy  of  Religion,  Natural  and  Revealed. 

Hume  :   A  Treatise  on  Human  Nature. 

Hamilton :  Discussions  on  Philosophy  and  Litera- 
ture. 

Mill :    Examination  of  Hamilton's  Philosophy. 

Lewes  :    Problems  of  Life  and  Mind. 

Cousin  :  Lectures  on  the  True,  the  Beautiful,  and 
the  Good. 

Martineau :  The  Positive  Philosophy  of  Auguste 
Comte. 

Mill :   Comte  and  Positivism. 

Mahaffy :  Kant's  Critical  Philosophy  for  English 
Readers. 

Fichte  :   The  Science  of  Knowledge. 

Meiklejohn :  Kant's  Critique  of  the  Pure  Reason 
(published  in  Bohn's  Philosophical  Library). 

Spencer  :   First  Principles  of  Philosophy. 

Bowen  :    Essays  on  Speculative  Philosophy. 

Porter :   Elements  of  Intellectual  Science. 

The  Human  Intellect. 

McCosh  :   Intuitions  of  the  Mind. 

System  of  Logic. 

Fiske  :   Outlines  of  Cosmic  Philosophy. 
Everett :   Science  of  Thought. 


158  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Wallace :   The  Logic  of  Hegel. 

Hegel:  The  Philosophy  of  History  (translated  by 
J.  Sibree,  in  Bohn's  Philosophical  Library). 

Schopenhauer:  Select  Essays  of  Arthur  Schopen- 
hauer (translated  by  Droppers  and  Dachsel). 

Lewes :    Biographical  History  of  Philosophy. 

Morell :  An  Historical  and  Critical  View  of  the 
Speculative  Philosophy  of  Europe  in  the  Nine- 
teenth Century. 

Ueberweg  :   History  of  Philosophy. 

Masson  :   Recent  British  Philosophy. 

Lecky:    History  of  European  Morals. 

History  of  Rationalism  in  Europe. 

Draper:  History  of  the  Intellectual  Development 
of  Europe. 

To  the  foregoing  list  the  following  may  be 
added :  — 

Plutarch's  Morals  (translated  by  Goodwin). 
Thoughts   of  Marcus   Aurelius  Antoninus  (in  the 

"  Wisdom  Series  "). 
Selections  from  Fenelon. 
Burton's  Anatomy  of  Melancholy. 
Sydney  Smith's  Sketches  of  Moral  Philosophy. 
Watts  on  the  Mind. 
Taine  on  Intelligence. 

A  course  of  reading  which  shall  include  any 
number  of  the  works  here  mentioned  will  be 
no  child's  play;  it  will  involve  the  severest 
exercise  of  the  thinking  powers,  but  it  will 
enable  you  "  to  look  into  the  perfections  and 
relations  of  things,  and  to  see  the  clouds,  the 
bright  lights,  and  the  everlasting  hills  on  the 


PHILOSOPHY  AND  RELIGION.         159 

horizon."  The  reading  of  such  books  is  Hke 
the  training  of  a  gymnast ;  it  will  lead  to  the 
healthy  development  of  the  parts  most  skil- 
fully exercised,  but  the  strength  of  him  who 
exercises  should  never  be  too  severely  tested. 
Would  you  prefer  a  lighter  course  of  reading, 
but  one  which  will  probably  lead  you  into 
pleasanter  paths  of  contemplation  and  reflec- 
tion, and  finally  open  up  to  your  view  a  pros- 
pect equally  boundless  and  grand?  Allow 
me  to  suggest  the  following,  which  is  neither 
philosophical  nor  religious,  in  the  strictest  ac- 
ceptation of  these  terms,  but  which  leads  us 
to  an  acquaintance  with  that  which  is  best  in 
both. 

We  shall  begin  \a\k\  the  Bible,  and  through- 
out the  course  we  shall  make  that  book  our 
grand  rallying-point.  "  Read  the  Bible  rever- 
ently and  attentively,"  says  Sir  Matthew  Hale  ; 
"  set  your  heart  upon  it,  and  lay  it  up  in  your 
memory,  and  make  it  the  direction  of  your 
life  :  it  will  make  you  a  wise  and  good  man." 
From  the  reverential  reading  of  the  Bible, 
which  to  most  of  us  is  rather  an  act  of  reli- 
gious duty  than  of  intellectual  effort,  we  turn 
to  the  great  masterpieces  of  antiquity.  In  the 
Phaedo  and  the  Apology  and  Crito  of  Plato, 
we  find  the   ripest  thoughts  of  the  world's 


l6o  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

greatest  thinker;  then  we  turn  to  Aristotle's 
Ethics,  and,  afterwards,  we  compare  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Greek  philosophers  with  the 
Teachings  of  Confucius  and  of  Mencius.'  If 
we  have  supplemented  these  readings  with 
the  proper  acquaintance  with  ancient  his- 
tory, we  shall  now  be  ready  to  understand 
the  great  poems  of  antiquity,  and  to  read 
them  in  a  light  different  from  that  which  we 
have  hitherto  known.  We  read  the  Iliad,  and 
the  Odyssey,  and  the  Greek  tragedians  ;  then 
the  old  Indian  epics,  Arnold's  "  The  Light 
of  Asia,"  and  Swamy's  "  Dialogues  and  Dis- 
courses of  Gotama  Buddha."  Descending 
now  to  more  modern  times,  —  for  we  would 
not  make  this  course  a  long  one,  —  we  turn 
again  to  our  Bible,  and  thoroughly  acquaint 
ourselves  with  "  the  unsurpassedly  simple,  lov- 
ing, perfect  idyls  of  the  life  and  death  of 
Christ,"  as  we  find  them  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. After  this,  we  shall  obtain  more  ex- 
alted ideas  of  the  brotherhood  of  the  human 
race  and  the  "hope  of  the  nations,"  if  we 
spend  some  time  in  the  study  of  the  majestic 
expressions  of  the  universal  conscience  found 
in  such  works  as  the  "  Vishnu  Sarma  "  of  the 
Hindoos,  the  "Gulistan"  of  Saadi,  the  "Sen- 

'  Chinese  Classics,  by  J.  Legge.    3  vok. 


PHILOSOPHY  AND  RELIGION.  i6l 

tences  "  of  Epictetus,  and  the  "Thoughts"  of 
Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus.  Then,  to  get  at 
the  poetic  interpretation  of  the  teachings  of 
Mohammed,  we  read  the  "  Pearls  of  Faith ; 
or,  Islam's  Rosary,"  and  Lane  Poole's  "Selec- 
tions from  the  Koran."  Returning  to  the 
study  of  Christian  ethics  and  poetry,  we  take 
up  the  "  Confessions  of  Saint  Augustine," 
and  the  "  Discourse  "  of  Saint  Bernard,  and 
then  the  "  Imitation  of  Christ,"  by  Thomas 
k  Kempis.  We  read  Milton's  "  Paradise 
Lost "  again,  and  Bunyan's  "  Pilgrim's  Pro- 
gress ;  "  and  we  enjoy  the  wealth  of  imagery 
in  Jeremy  Taylor's  "Holy  Living  and  Holy 
Dying."  Holy  George  Herbert's  "  Sacred 
Poems  and  Private  Ejaculations "  claim  our 
attention  for  a  time,  and  then  we  take  up 
Pascal's  "Thoughts,"  and  selections  from 
F^nelon's  "  Telemachus  "  and  "  Dialogues  of 
the  Dead."  Finally,  we  read  Wordsworth's 
"  Excursion,"  and  Keble's  "  Christian  Year," 
and  return  after  all  to  a  further  perusal  of 
the  Bible  and  the  poems  of  antiquity. 

You  may  say  that  this  course  is  rather  frag- 
mentary, and  so  it  is ;  but  it  differs  from  the 
other  courses  which  I  have  indicated,  in  that 
it  is  undertaken  as  a  heart-work  rather  than  a 
head-work.   Unlike  the  course  just  preceding, 


l62  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

it  has  to  do  with  our  emotional  and  devotional 
natures  rather  than  with  our  highest  powers 
of  thinking  and  reasoning.  With  few  excep- 
tions only,  the  books  here  mentioned  are 
voices  out  of  the  past,  speaking  to  us  of  the 
human  soul's  belief  and  experience  in  different 
ages  of  the  world  and  under  different  dispen- 
sations. "  I  suppose,"  says  George  Eliot, 
speaking  of  the  "  Imitation  of  Christ,"  —  "I 
suppose  that  is  the  reason  why  the  small  old- 
fashioned  book,  for  which  you  need  only  pay 
sixpence  at  a  book-stall,  works  miracles  to  this 
day,  turning  bitter  waters  into  sweetness; 
while  expensive  sermons  and  treatises,  newly 
issued,  leave  all  things  as  they  were  before. 
It  was  written  down  by  a  hand  that  waited  for 
the  heart's  prompting;  it  is  the  chronicle  of 
a  solitary,  hidden  anguish,  struggle,  trust,  and 
triumph,  —  not  written  on  velvet  cushions  to 
teach  endurance  to  those  who  are  treading 
with  bleeding  feet  on  the  stones.  And  so  it 
remains  to  all  time  a  lasting  record  of  human 
needs  and  human  consolations ;  the  voice  of 
a  brother  who,  ages  ago,  felt  and  suffered 
and  renounced,  —  in  the  cloister,  perhaps  with 
serge  gown  and  tonsured  head,  with  much 
chanting  and  long  fasts,  and  with  a  fashion  of 
speech  different  from  ours,  —  but  under  the 


PHILOSOPHY  AND  RELIGION.         163 

same  silent  far-off  heavens,  and  with  the  same 
passionate  desires,  the  same  strivings,  the 
same  failures,  the  same  weariness." 

Writing  of  works  like  these,  Emerson  says  : 
"  Their  communications  are  not  to  be  given 
or  taken  with  the  lips  and  the  end  of  the 
tongue,  but  out  of  the  glow  of  the  cheek, 
and  with  the  throbbing  heart.  .  .  .  These  are 
the  Scriptures  which  the  missionary  might 
well  carry  over  prairie,  desert,  and  ocean,  to 
Siberia,  Japan,  Timbuctoo.  Yet  he  will  find 
that  the  spirit  which  is  in  them  journeys  faster 
than  he,  and  greets  him  on  his  arrival,  —  was 
there  long  before  him.  The  missionary  must 
be  carried  by  it,  and  find  it  there,  or  he  goes 
in  vain.  Is  there  any  geography  in  these 
things  ?  We  call  them  Asiatic,  we  call  them 
primeval ;  but  perhaps  that  is  only  optical, 
for  Nature  is  always  equal  to  herself,  and 
there  are  as  good  eyes  and  ears  now  in  the 
planet  as  ever  were.  Only  these  ejaculations 
of  the  soul  are  uttered  one  or  a  few  at  a 
time,  at  long  intervals,  and  it  takes  millen- 
niums to  make  a  Bible." 

We  are  brought  now  naturally  to  the  sub- 
ject of  Theological  Literature.  The  number 
of  books  in  this  department  is  very  great,  and 
there  are  wide   differences   of  opinion   with 


1 64  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

regard  to  the  merits  of  many  of  the  best-known 
works.  Without  attempting  to  select  always 
the  best,  I  shall  name  only  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  books  necessary  for  the  use  of  such 
non-professional  readers  as  may  desire  to  ac- 
quire a  moderate  knowledge  of  the  commonly 
accepted  theological  doctrines  :  — 

McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia  of  Biblical, 
Theological,  and  Ecclesiastical  Literature  (lo 
vols.). 

Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 

Young's  Analytical  Concordance  to  the  Bible. 

Barrow's  Sacred  Geography  and  Antiquities. 

Dean  Stanley's  Sinai  and  Palestine  in  connection 
with  their  History. 

Clark's  Bible  Atlas,  with  Maps  and  Plans. 

Bissell's  Historic  Origin  of  the  Bible. 

Lange's  Commentary  on  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Alford's  The  Greek  Testament ;  and  The  New  Tes- 
tament for  English  Readers. 

Oehler's  Theology  of  the  Old  Testament. 

Weiss's  Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament. 

Geikie's  Hours  with  the  Bible. 

Lenormant's  The  Beginnings  of  History,  according 
to  the  Bible  and  the  Traditions  of  Oriental  Peoples. 

Dean  Stanley's  Lectures  on  the  History  of  the 
Jewish  Church. 

Geikie's  Life  and  Works  of  Christ. 

Farrar's  Life  of  Christ. 

Farrar's  Life  and  Work  of  St.  Paul. 

Conybeare  and  Howson's  Life  and  Epistles  of  St. 
Paul. 

Schaff's  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Dean  Milman's  History  of  Latin  Christianity  (8  vols.)- 


PHILOSOPHY  AND  RELIGION.        1 65 

Dean  Stanley's  Lectures  on  the  History  o£  the  East- 
ern Church. 

Fisher  :  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

James  Freeman  Clarke's  Ten  Great  Religions. 

Moffatt's  Comparative  History  of  Religions. 

Trench's  Lectures  on  Mediaeval  Church  History. 

Ullman's  Reformers  before  the  Reformation. 

Fisher's  History  of  the  Reformation. 

Ranke's  History  of  the  Popes  during  the  Sixteenth 
and  Seventeenth  Centuries. 

Griesinger's  History  of  the  Jesuits. 

Baird's  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Huguenots  in 
France. 

Stevens's  History  of  Methodism. 

Tyerman's  Life  and  Times  of  John  Wesley. 

Hagenbach's  History  of  Christian  Doctrines  (trans- 
lated by  C.  W.  Buch). 

Fisher's  Faith  and  Rationalism. 

McCosh's  Christianity  and  Positivism. 

Farrar's  Critical  History  of  Free  Thought  in  refer- 
ence to  the  Christian  Religion. 

Royce's  Religious  Aspect  of  Philosophy. 

Calderwood's  Relations  of  Science  and  Religion. 

Max  Miiller's  Science  of  Religion. 

Drummond :  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World. 

Trench's  Shipwrecks  of  Faith. 

Walker's  Philosophy  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation. 

Smyth's  Old  Faiths  in  New  Light. 

Brooks's  Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching. 

Dorner's  System  of  Christian  Doctrine. 

Goulburn's  Thoughts  on  Personal  Religion. 

Richard  Baxter,  speaking  of  this  class  of 
books,  says  :  "  Such  books  have  the  advantage 
in  many,  other  respects :  you  may  read  an 


l66  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

able  preacher  when  you  have  but  a  mean  one 
to  hear.  Every  congregation  cannot  hear  the 
most  judicious  or  powerful  preachers ;  but 
every  single  person  may  read  the  books  of 
the  most  powerful  and  judicious.  Preachers 
may  be  silenced  or  banished,  when  books 
may  be  at  hand;  books  may  be  kept  at  a 
smaller  charge  than  preachers  :  we  may  choose 
books  which  treat  of  that  very  subject  which 
we  desire  to  hear  of.  Books  we  may  have  at 
hand  every  day  and  hour,  when  we  can  have 
sermons  but  seldom,  and  at  set  times.  If 
sermons  be  forgotten,  they  are  gone.  But  a 
book  we  may  read  over  and  over  until  we 
remember  it ;  and  if  we  forget  it,  may  again 
peruse  it  at  our  pleasure  or  at  our  leisure." 


CHAPTER  X. 

Political  lEcanomg  anti  ti)z  Science  of 
©fl&ernment. 

This  is  that  noble  Science  of  Politics,  which  is  equally 
removed  from  the  barren  theories  of  the  utilitarian  sophists, 
and  from  the  petty  craft,  so  often  mistaken  for  statesman- 
ship by  minds  grown  narrow  in  habits  of  intrigue,  jobbing, 
and  official  etiquette,  — which  of  all  sciences  is  the  most 
important  to  the  welfare  of  nations,  —  which  of  all  sciences 
most  tends  to  expand  and  invigorate  the  mind,  —  which 
draws  nutriment  and  ornament  from  every  part  of  philos- 
ophy and  literature,  and  dispenses  in  return  nutriment  and 
ornament  to  all.  —  Macaulay. 


O  the  student  of  Political  Economy 
i?t*|i  r  ¥  and  the  Science  of  Government  I 
t^^^^::^!!  offer  the  following  lists  of  books, 
embracing  the  best  works  on  the 
various  subjects  connected  with  this  study. 
The  classification  has  been  made  solely  with 
reference  to  the  subject-matter,  without  any 
attempt  to  indicate  the  order  in  which  the 
books  are  to  be  studied,  —  as  this  would  be 
impossible. 

167 


1 68  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Constitutioiial  History,  etc. 

Freeman :   Growth  of  the  English  Constitution. 
Creasy :   Rise  and  Progress  of  the  English  Consti- 
tution. 
Stubbs :   Constitutional  History  of  England. 
Hallam :   Constitutional  History  of  England  (1485- 

1759)- 
Curtis :   History  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 

States. 
Von  Hoist :  Constitutional  History  of  the  United 

States. 
De  Tocqueville :   Democracy  in  the  United  States. 
Townsend:  Analysis  of  Civil  Government. 
Nordhoff :  Politics  for  Young  Americans. 
Andrews :  Manual  of  the  United  States  Constitution. 
Mulford :   The  Nation. 
Story :   Familiar   Exposition  of  the  United  States 

Constitution. 
Bancroft :   History  of  the  United  States  (vol.  xi.). 
Amos  :  The  Science  of  Politics. 

General  Works  on  Political  Economy. 

Perry :  An  Introduction  to  Political  Econ- 
omy. 

Jevons:  A  Primer  of  Political  Economy. 

Newcomb :  Principles  of  Political  Economy. 

John  Stuart  Mill :  Principles  of  Political  Economy 
(People's  edition). 

Cairnes :  Some  Leading  Principles  of  Political 
Economy  Newly  Expounded. 

Walker:   The  Elements  of  Political  Economy. 

Perry  :   Elements  of  Political  Economy. 

Bastiat :   Essays  on  Political  Economy. 

Bowen:   American  Political  Economy. 

Mason  and  Lalor:   Primer  of  Political  Economy. 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY.  169 

On  Population. 
Malthus  :  The  Principles  of  Population. 

Mr.  Malthus's  doctrines  are  opposed  in  the 
foUowing  works :  — 

Godwin  :    On  Population  {1820). 

Sadler:   The  Law  of  Population  (1830). 

Alison :    The    Principles   of   Population,   and   their 

Connection  with  Human  Happiness  (1840). 
Doubleday:    The  True  Law  of  Population  shown  to 

be  connected  with  the  Food  of  the  People  (1854). 
Herbert  Spencer :  The  Principles  of  Biology  (vol.  ii.). 
Rickards  :    Population  and  Capital  (1854). 
Greg  :   Enigmas  of  Life  (1872). 

The    Malthusian    doctrine     is     supported 
wholly  or  in  part  by  — 

Macaulay,  in  his  Essay  on  Sadler's  Law  of  Popula- 
tion ; 

Rev.  Thomas  Chalmers,  in  Political  Economy  in  con- 
nection with  the  Moral  State  and  Moral  Prospects 
of  Society; 

David  Ricardo,  in  Principles  of  Political  Economy; 
and  some  other  writers.  See,  also,  Roscher's 
Political  Economy. 

On  Wealth  and  Currency. 

Adam  Smith :  An  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  and 
Causes  of  Wealth. 

Probably  the  most  important  book  that  has  ever  been 
written,  and  certainly  the  most  valuable  contribution  ever 
made  by  a  single  man  towards  establishing  the  principles 
on  which  government  should  be  based.  —  H.  T.  Buckle. 


I70  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Jevons :  Money  and  the  Mechanism  of  Exchange. 

A.  Walker :   The  Science  of  Wealth. 

F.  A.  Walker :   Money. 

Bagehot :    Lombard   Street ;    a  Description  of  the 

Money  Market. 
Bonamy  Price  :   Principles  of  Currency. 

Currency  and  Banking. 

Chevalier  :   Essay  on  the  Probable  Fall  in  the  Value 

of  Gold  (translated  by  Cobden). 
Ricardo:   Proposals  for  an  Economical  Currency. 
Poor:    Money;  its  Laws  and  History. 
McCulloch :    On  Metallic  and  Paper   Money,  and 

Banks. 
Newcomb :   The  A  B  C  of  Finance. 
Wells  :   Robinson  Crusoe's  Money. 
Harvey:  Paper  Money,  the  Money  of  Civilization. 
Sumner  :   History  of  American  Currency. 
Maclaren :   History  of  the  Currency. 
Linderman :  Money  and  Legal  Tender  of  the  United 

States. 
Bolles :  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  from 

1789  to  i860. 

On  Banking. 

Macleod  :   The  Elements  of  Banking. 

Theory  and  Practice  of  Banking. 

Bonamy  Price  :   Currency  and  Banking. 
Gibbons  :   The  Banks  of  New  York. 
Atkinson  :    What  is  a  Bank  ? 

Gilbart :    Principles  and  Practice  of  Banking. 
Bagehot :    Lombard  Street. 

Morse :   Treatise   on  the  Laws  relating  to   Banks 
and  Banking. 

On  Labor  and  Wages. 

Henry  George  :   Progress  and  Poverty. 
Mallock :  Property  and  Progress. 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY.  171 

Walker  :   Wages  and  the  Wages  Class. 

Brassey :   Work  and  Wages. 

Jevons  :   The  State  in  relation  to  Labor. 

Jervis  :   Labor  and  Capital. 

Thornton :    On  Labor ;    its   Wrongful   Claims   and 

Rightful  Dues. 
Wright :   A  Practical  Treatise  on  Labor. 
Young :    Labor  in  Europe  and  America. 
Bolles  :   Conflict  of  Labor  and  Capital. 
About :   Hand-Book  of  Social  Economy. 

On  Socialism  and  Co-operation. 

Nordhoff :    Communistic   Societies   of   the   United 

States. 
Noyes  :    History  of  American  Socialism. 
Ely:    French   and    German    Socialism   in   Modern 

Times. 
Holyoake  :   History  of  Co-operation. 
Woolsey :  Socialism. 
Barnard :  Co-operation  as  a  Business. 

The  student  of  socialism  will  doubtless 
be  interested  in  reading  some  of  the  philo- 
sophical fictions  and  other  works,  written  in 
various  ages,  describing  fanciful  or  ideal 
communities  and  governments.  The  follow- 
ing are  the  best :  — 

Plato's  Republic. 
Sir  Thomas  More's  Utopia. 
Bacon's  New  Atlantis. 
Hall's  Mundns  Alter  et  Idem. 
Harrington's  Oceana. 
Defoe's  Essay  on  Projects. 


172  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Disraeli's  Coningsby,  or  the  New  Generation, 
Bulwer's  The  Coming  Race. 

On  Taxation  and  Fanperism. 

Peto  :   Taxation  ;  its  Levy  and  Expenditure. 
Cobden  Club  Essay,  —  On  Local  Government  and 

Taxation. 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica :  The  Article  on  Taxation. 
Fawcett:   Pauperism;  its  Causes  and  Remedies. 
Sir    George    Nicholl :    Histories    of    the    English, 

Scotch,  and  Irish  Poor  Laws. 
Lecky:   History  of  European  Morals  (vol.  ii.). 

On  the  Tariff  Question. 

The   following  works  favor,  more  or  less 
strongly,  the  doctrine  of  Free  Trade  :  — 

Adam  Smith :  On  the  Wealth  of  Nations. 

Walter  :    What  is  Free  Trade  ? 

Sumner :   Lectures  on  the  History  of  Protection  in 

the  United  States. 
Mongredien :   History  of  the  Free-Trade  Movement. 
Grosvenor  :   Does  Protection  Protect  .■• 
Bastiat :   Sophisms  of  Protection. 
Fawcett :   Free  Trade  and  Protection. 
Butts  :   Protection  and  Free  Trade. 

The  following  are  the  most  important  works 
favoring  Protection :  — 

Horace  Greeley:  The  Science  of  Political  Economy. 
E.  Peshine  Smith  :  A  Manual  of  Political  Economy. 
R.  E.   Thompson :    Social    Science   and    National 

Economy. 
H.  C.  Carey:   Principles  of  Social  Science. 
Byles :   Sophisms  of  Free  Trade. 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY.  173 

Works  of  Beference. 

McCulloch :   Literature  of  Political  Economy. 

Macleod  :  A  Dictionary  of  Political  Economy,  Bio- 
graphical, Historical,  and  Practical. 

Lalor  :  Cyclopasdia  of  Political  Science  and  Political 
Economy. 

McCulloch :   Dictionary  of  Commerce. 

Tooke:   History  of  Prices,  1793  to  1856. 

Rogers  :  History  of  Agriculture  and  Prices  in 
England. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


©n  i^z  ^Practical  Stutis  of  SSngligfj 
literature. 

The  ocean  of  literature  is  without  limit.  How  then  shall 
we  be  able  to  perform  a  voyage,  even  to  a  moderate  dis- 
tance, if  we  waste  our  time  in  dalliance  on  the  shore  ?  Our 
only  hope  is  in  exertion.  Let  our  only  reward  be  that  of 
industry. —  Ringelbergius. 

HE  student  of  English  literature  has 
indeed  embarked  upon  a  limitless 
ocean.  A  lifetime  of  study  will  serve 
only  to  make  him  acquainted  with 
parts  of  that  great  expanse  which  lies  open 
before  him.  He  should  pursue  his  explora- 
tions earnestly,  and  with  the  inquiring  spirit  of 
a  true  discoverer.  His  thirst  for  knowledge 
should  be  unquenchable ;  he  should  long 
always  for  that  mind  food  which  brings  the 
right  kind  of  mind  growth.  He  should  not 
rest  satisfied  with  merely  superficial  attain- 
ments, but  should  strive  for  that  thoroughness 
174 


STUDY  OF  ENGLISH  LITERATURE.     175 

of  knowledge  without  which  there  can  be 
neither  excellence  nor  enjoyment. 

English  literature  is  not  to  be  learned  from 
manuals.  They  are  only  helps,  —  charts, 
buoys,  light-houses,  if  you  will  call  them  so  ; 
or  they  serve  to  you  the  purposes  of  guide- 
books. What  do  you  think  of  the  would-be 
tourist  who  stays  at  home  and  studies  his 
Baedeker  with  the  foolish  thought  that  he  is 
actually  seeing  the  countries  which  the  book 
describes?  And  yet  I  have  known  students, 
and  not  a  few  teachers,  do  a  thing  equally  as 
foolish.  With  a  Morley,  or  a  Shaw,  or  even  a 
Brooke  in  their  hands,  and  a  few  names  and 
dates  at  their  tongues'  ends,  they  imagine 
themselves  viewing  the  great  ocean  of  litera- 
ture, ploughing  its  surface  and  exploring  its 
depths,  when  in  reality  they  are  only  wasting 
their  time  "in  dalliance  on  the  shore." 

English  literature  does  not  consist  in  a 
mere  array  of  names  and  dates  and  short 
biographical  sketches  of  men  who  have  writ- 
ten books.  Biography  is  biography ;  litera- 
ture "  is  a  record  of  the  best  thoughts."  But 
the  former  is  frequently  studied  in  place  of 
the  latter.  "  For  once  that  we  take  down  our 
Milton,  and  read  a  book  of  that  'voice,'  as 
Wordsworth  says, '  whose  sound  is  like  the  sea,' 


176  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

we  take  up  fifty  times  a  magazine  with  some- 
thing about  Milton,  or  about  Milton's  grand- 
mother, or  a  book  stuffed  with  curious  facts 
about  the  houses  in  which  he  lived,  and  the 
juvenile  ailments  of  his  first  wife." '  Instead 
of  becoming  acquainted  at  first  hand  with 
books  in  which  are  stored  the  energies  of  the 
past,  we  content  ourselves  with  knowing  only- 
something,  about  the  men  who  wrote  them. 
Instead  of  admiring  with  our  own  eyes  the 
architectural  beauties  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral, 
we  read  a  biography  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren. 
Again,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  lit- 
erature is  one  thing,  and  the  history  of  litera- 
ture is  another.  The  study  of  the  latter, 
however  important,  cannot  be  substituted  for 
that  of  the  former ;  yet  it  is  not  desirable  to 
separate  the  two.  To  acquire  any  service- 
able knowledge  of  a  book,  you  will  be  greatly 
aided  by  knowing  under  what  peculiar  con- 
ditions it  was  conceived  and  produced,  — 
the  history  of  the  country,  the  manners  of 
the  people,  the  status  of  morals  and  poHtics 
at  the  time  it  was  written.  Between  history 
and  literature  there  is  a  mutual  relationship 
which  should  not  be  overlooked.     "A  book 

'  Frederic  Harrison :  Fortnightly  Review  (April,  1879), 
"On  the  Choice  of  Books." 


STUDY  OF  ENGLISH  LITERATURE.     177 

is  the  offspring  of  the  aggregate  intellect  of 
humanity,"  and  it  gives  back  to  humanity,  in 
the  shape  of  new  ideas  and  new  combinations 
of  old  ideas,  not  only  all  that  which  it  has 
derived  from  it,  but  more,  —  increased  intel- 
lectual vitality,  and  springs  of  action  hitherto 
unknown. 

In  the  study  of  literature,  one  should  begin 
with  an  author  and  with  a  subject  not  too 
difficult  to  understand.  A  beginner  will  be 
likely  to  find  but  Httle  comfort  in  Chaucer  or 
Spenser,  or  even  in  Emerson ;  but  after  he 
has  worked  up  to  them  he  may  study  them 
with  unbounded  delight.  For  a  ready  under- 
standing and  correct  appreciation  of  the  great 
masterpieces  of  English  Hterature,  a  knowl- 
edge of  Greek  and  Roman  mythology  and 
history  is  almost  indispensable.  The  student 
will  find  the  courses  of  historical  reading  given 
in  a  former  chapter  of  this  book  of  much 
value  in  supplementing  his  literary  studies. 

The  great  works  of  the  world's  master- 
minds should  be  studied  together,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  similarity  of  their  subject-matter. 
For  example,  the  reading  of  Shakspeare  will 
give  occasion  to  the  study  of  dramatic  lit- 
erature in  all  its  forms ;  the  reading  of  Mil- 
ton's "  Paradise  Lost "  will  introduce  us  to 


178  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

the  great  epics,  and  to  heroic  poetry  in  gen- 
eral ;  Sir  Walter  Scott's  "  Lay  of  the  Last 
Minstrel "  will  lead  naturally  to  the  romance 
literature  of  modern  and  mediaeval  times; 
Chaucer's  "  Canterbury  Tales  "  fitly  illustrate 
the  story-telling  phase  of  poetry;  the  study 
of  lyric  poetry  may  centre  around  the  old 
ballads,  the  poems  of  Robert  Bums,  and  the 
religious  hymns  of  our  language ;  Bunyan's 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress "  introduces  us  to  alle- 
gor}',  and  Milton's  "  Lycidas  "  to  elegiac  and 
pastoral  poetry ;  and  to  know  the  best  speci- 
mens of  argumentative  prose,  we  begin  with 
the  speeches  of  Daniel  Webster  and  end  with 
the  orations  of  Demosthenes. 

The  following  schemes  for  the  study  of  dif- 
ferent departments  of  English  literature  have 
been  tested  both  with  private  students  and 
with  classes  at  school.  Of  course,  many  of 
the  books  mentioned  are  to  be  used  chiefly 
as  works  of  reference ;  some  of  them  may  be 
conveniently  omitted  in  case  it  is  desirable 
to  abridge  the  course,  and  others  may  be 
exchanged  for  similar  works  upon  the  same 
subject. 


DRAMATIC  LITERATURE. 


179 


SCHEME    I. 

iFor  tlje  Stutig  of  ©ramatic  ^Literature. 


LITERATURE. 

For  manuals  use  any  or  all 

of  the  following  works :  — 

Shaw's  Mamtal  of  English 
Literature. 

Morley's  First  Sketch  0/ 
English  Literature. 

Baldwin's  English  Litera- 
ture and  Literary  Criticism. 

Brooke's  Printer  of  English 
Literature. 

Welsh's  Development  of 
English  Literature. 

Richardson's  Familiar 

Talks  on  English  Litera- 
ture. 

To  be  read :  — 

"  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Eng- 
lish Drama,"  in  White's 
Shakspeare,  vol.  i. 

"  Origin  and  Growth  of  the 
Drama  in  England,"  in 
Hudson's  Life,  Art,  and 
Characters  of  Shakspeare , 
vol.  i. 

"  Life  of  Shakspeare"  in  either 
of  the  works  just  named. 


To  be  referred  to :  — 
Dowden's  Shakspere  Primer. 
Abbott's  Shakspearian 

Grammar. 
Taink's  English  Literature, 
the     chapter     on     "  Shak- 
speare." 


PARALLEL  STUDIES. 

English  histories  for    study 

and  reference :  — 

Green's  History  of  the  Eng- 
lish People. 

Knight's  History  of  Eng- 
land. 

Vonge's  Young  Folki  Eng- 
land. 


Study  the  history  of  Eng- 
land from  1066  to  1580. 

Write  an  essay  on  one  of  the 
following  subjects :  — 

1.  Miracles  and  Mysteries. 

2.  Popular  Amusements  of  the 

Middle  Ages. 

3.  The  Church  and  the  Early 

Drama. 

4.  The     Social    Condition    of 

England  in  the  Time  of 
Queen  Elizabeth. 

5.  The  Early  Theatres. 


i8o 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


To  be  studied :  — 

I.   The     Merchant 
Venice. 


II.  CoRiOLANUs   or  Julius 

CiESAR. 


III.  Richard  III. 


IV, 


A  Midsummer  Night's 
Dream. 


V.   King    Lear    or    Mac- 
beth. 


VI.   Hamlet. 

Books  for  study  and  refer- 
ence   while    studying     Shak- 
speare : — 
Hazlitt's        Characters     of 

Shakspear^ s    Plays. 
Coleridge's     Literary    Re- 
mains. 
Leigh    Hunt's  Imagitiation 
atid  Fancy. 


I.  Study  the   history  and  to- 

pography of  Venice. 

Write  essays  on  various  sub- 
jects suggested  by  the  play. 

II.  Read   Plutarch's  Life    of 

Coriolanus  or  of  Julius 

Cxsar. 
Study    the    peculiarities    of 
Roman  life  and  manners. 
Refer  to  Mommsen's  Rome. 

III.  Studythehistory  of  Rich. 

ard  III.  as  related  by 
trustworthy  historians. 
Write  an  essay  in  his 
defence. 

IV.  Study  the    sources    from 

which  this  play  has  been 
derived.  Write  essays 
on  subjects  suggested 
by  it. 

V.  Read    Geoffrey    of    Mon- 

mouth's account  of  King 
Lear.  Learn  what  you 
can  of  the  historical  leg- 
ends of  early  Britain  and 
Scotland. 

Write  essays  on  subjects  sug- 
gested by  these  plays. 

VI.  Hamlet.        Study     the 

sources  of  the  play. 
Write  essays.  Discuss 
the  question  of  Ham- 
let's madness. 


Write  an  essay  on  Shak- 
speare's  works,  his  life,  his  art. 

Discuss  the  Baconian  theory 
of  the  authorship  of  Shak- 
speare's  plays. 


DRAMATIC  LITERATURE. 


l8l 


Lamb's  Essay  on  Shak- 
speare's    Tragedies. 

Dowden's  Miiui  and  Art  of 
Shakspeare. 

Moulto.n's  Shakspeare  as  a 
Dramatic  Artist. 

White's  Studies  in  Shak- 
speare. 

Also,  the  various  works  of  the 
Shakspeare  Society  and  of 
the  New  Shakspere  Society- 


Read  Victor  Hugo's  William 
Shakspeare,  translated  by 
M.  B.  Anderson. 


Cteneral  Study  of  the  Drama. 


I .  The  Greek  Drama.  —  Re- 
fer to,  or  read,  — 

Mahaffy's  Greek  Literature. 

Schlegel's  Dramatic  Litera- 
ture. 

Copleston's  jEschylus. 

Church's  Stories  from,  the 
Greek   Tragedians. 

Mrs.  Browning's  translation 
of  Prometheus  Bound. 

Donne's  Euripides. 

Froude's  essay,  —  Sea  Stud- 
ies. 

Donaldson's  Theatre  of  the 
Greeks. 

3.  The  Roman  Drama.  —  See 
the  following  works  :  — 

Schlegel's  Dramatic  Litera- 
ture. 

Sim  cox's  History  of  Latin 
Literature. 

QtJACKENBOs's  Classical  Lit- 
erature. 

3.  Mysteries  and  Miracle- 
Plays.  —  Refer  to  — 

"  An  Essay  on  the  Origin  of  the 
English  Stage,"  in  Percy's 
Reliques  0/  Ancient  Eng- 
lish Poetry. 


1.  The      Greek     Drama.  — 

Study     the     history     of 
Greece  from   some    brief 
text-book    like     Smith's 
Smaller  History.     Study 
the   life  and  manners  of 
the  Greeks  by  referring  to 
Becker's     Charicles,     or 
Mahaffy's     Old     Greek 
Life. 
Refer  to  Grote  and  Curtius. 
Read  the  old  Greek  Myths. 
Write  essays   on   the  Greek 
Stage,  the  Greek  Tragedy,  and 
kindred  subjects. 

Discuss  the  subjects  sug- 
gested by  reading  "  Prome- 
theus Bound." 

2.  Refer  to  Mommsen's^£7»ff, 

especially  the  chapters  re- 
lating to  literature  and  art. 


Review  the  history  of  Eng- 
land from  io66  to  15S0, 
with  special  reference  to 
the  social,  religious,  and 
.  political  progress  of  the 
people. 


1«2 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


Warton's  History  of  Eng- 
lish Poetry. 

Morley's  English  Writers; 
and  the  essays  of  White  and 
Hudson,  already  named. 

4.  The  Elizabethan  Drama.  — 

See    the  works  on  Shak- 
speare,  mentioned  above  ; 
also,  — 
Whipple's  Literature  of  the 

Age  of  Elizabeth. 
Hazlitt's  Age  of  Elizabeth. 
Lamb's  Notes  on  the  Eliza- 
bethan Dramatists. 
Ward's     English    Dramatic 

Literature. 

Study  selections  from  — 
Jonson's  Every  Man  in  his 

Humor. 
Marlowe's  Doctor  Faustus, 

or  Tamburlaine. 
Also,  selections  from  Webster, 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  and 

others. 

5.  Study  Milton's  Comus. 
Read  Milton's  Samson  Ago- 

nistes. 


6.  The  Drama  of  the  Restora- 
tion. —  Read  — 

Hazlitt's  English  Comic 
Writers. 

Johnson's  Life  of  Dryden. 

Thackeray's  English  Hu- 
morists. 


4.  Subjects  for  special  study  : 

The  history  of  the  reigns  of 
Elizabeth  and  James  I. 

The  causes  and  character  of 
the  Renaissance  in  England. 

Character  of  the  Elizabethan 
dramatists. 

Causes  of  the  decline  of  dra- 
matic literature. 

The  character  of  James  I. 

The  Puritans  and  their  in- 
fluence upon  the  manners  of 
the  English  people. 

The  Puritans  and  the  drama. 

Prynne's  Histrio-Mastix. 

The  reign  of  Charles  I. 


5.  Study  the  history  of  Oliver 

Cromwell     and     Puritan 

England.     Suppression  of 

the  drama. 

Read  Macaulay's  Essay  on 

Milton. 

Write  essays  on  subjects  sug- 
gested by  these  studies. 

Discuss  the  character  of  the 
Puritans. 


6.  Study  the  state  of  society  at 
the  time  of  the  Restora- 
tion. 
The  history  of  England  from 

i56o  to  1760. 


EPIC  POETRY. 


183 


Macaulay's  Essay  on  the 
Comic  Dramatists  of  the 
Restoration. 

Ward's  History  of  the  Drama. 

7.   The  Later  Drama.  —  See 

the  following  :  — 
Fitzgerald's  Life  of  David 

Garrick. 
The     Life      and     Dramatic 

Works  of  R.  B.  Sheridan. 
Lives  of  the  Kembles. 
Macready's  Reminiscences. 
Lewes's  Actors  and  the  Art 

of  Acting. 
Hutton's  Plays  and  Players. 

Goldsmith's  She  Stoops  to 
Conquer. 

Sheridan's  School  for  Scan- 
dal. 

Bulwer's  Richelieu. 

Tennyson's  Drama  of  Queen 
Mary. 

Shelley's  Prometheus  Un- 
bound. 

Swinburne's  Atalanta  in 
Calydon. 

Robert  BROWNiNG'siPrawaj. 


Write  essays  on  subjects 
relating  to  the  drama  or  the 
public  manners  of  this  period. 

Jeremy  Collier's  work. 

7.  Study  the  history  of  England 
tothecloseoftheeighteenth 
century. 

Write  an  essay  on  the  "  In- 
fluence of  the  Drama." 

Discuss  the  means  by  which 
the  stage  may  be  made  benefi- 
cial as  a  means  of  popular  edu- 
cation. 

Study  the  character  of  the 
drama  of  our  own  times,  and 
how  it  may  be  improved. 


SCHEME    II. 

Jor  tfje  Stutjg  of  IHpic  Poetrg. 


LITERATURE. 

For      manuals,     etc.,     see 
Scheme  I. 

To  be  studied  :  — 
Milton's  Paradise  Lost. 

Read  — 
Macaulay's  Essay  on  Milton. 
Dr.  Johnson's  Life  of  Milton. 


PARALLEL  STUDIES. 
For    English    histories,   see 
Scheme  I. 

Read  the  account  of  the  Cre- 
ation as  related  in  the  book  of 
Genesis. 

Study  the  character  of  the 
Puritans  in  England. 


i84 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


Stopford  Brooke's  Milton. 

Mark  Pattison's  Milton. 

Hazlitt's  Essay  on  "  Shak- 
speare  and  Milton,"  in  Eng- 
lish Poets. 

Hazlitt's  Essay  on  Milton's 
Eve. 

De  Quincey's  Essay  on  Milton 
vs.  Souiliey  and  Landor. 

HiMEs's  A  Study  of  Paradise 
Lost. 

The  Spectator;  the  numbers 
issued  on  Saturdays  from 
Jan.  5  to  May  3,  1712. 

Masson's  Introduction  to  Mil- 
ton's Poetical  Works. 

Gossk's  Essay  on  Milton  and 
Vondel,  in  "  Studies  in 
Nortliern  Literature." 

Refer  to  — 
Masson's  Life  of  Milton. 
Boyd's  Milton's  Paradise  Lost 

(with  copious  notes). 

A  notice  of  the  other  great 
Epics :  — 

1.  Homer's  Iliad  and  Odys- 

sey.    Selections  read  and 

studied. 
(See  list  of  books  suggested 
for  the  study  of  Greek  history, 
etc.) 

2.  Virgil's   jEneid  (Morris's 

translation).  General  plan 
of  the  work  observed. 

3.  Dante's  Divina   Comme- 

dia  (Longfellow's  or  Ca- 
rey's translation).  Gen- 
eral plan  of  the  work  ob- 
served. 


Write  essays  on  subjects  sug- 
gested by  the  study  of  "  Para- 
dise Lost." 

Study  the  mythological  allu- 
sions found  in  the  poem.  The 
following  works  of  reference 
are  recommended  for  this  pur- 
pose :  — 

Smith's  Classical  Dictionary. 

Murray's  Manual  of  Mythol- 
ogy- 

Keightlky's  Classical  My- 
thology. 

Write  an  essay  on  the  gen- 
eral plan  of  the  poem. 

Discuss  Milton's  theory  of 
the  universe  as  understood 
from  the  reading  of  "  Paradise 
Lost." 


See  list  of  books  elsewhere 
given,  relating  to  Greek  My- 
thology, the  Trojan  War,  etc. 


See  — 

Lowell's  Essay  on  Dante,  in 
A  mong  My  Books. 

Symond's  Introduction  to  the 
Study  of  Dante. 

Botta's  Dante  as  a  Philoso- 
pher, Patriot,  and  Poet. 

Carlyle's  Heroes  and  Hero- 
Worship. 


POETICAL  ROMANCE. 


185 


Attempted  Epics :  — 
Cowley's  Davideis. 
Glover's  Leonidas. 
South ey's     jfoan    of  Arc, 

Madoc,   Thalaba,    and    Tlie 

Curse  of  KeJiatita. 
L  AN  dor's  Gebir. 

Why  these  poems  fail  to  be 
epips. 

Heroic  Poems :  — 
Barbour's  Bruce. 
Davbnant's  Gondibert. 

rAf  Mock-Heroic :  — 
Pope's    Jtape   of  the    Lock. 
The    general  plan.      Selec- 
tions studied. 


Historical  studies  suggested 
by  these  attempted  poems. 

Write  an  essay  on  the  quali- 
ties requisite  to  a  great  epic 
poem. 

Discuss  the  possibility  of 
another  great  epic  being 
written. 


Study  the  legends  and  his- 
torical events  upon  which  these 
poems  are  founded. 

Write  an  essay  on  some  sub- 
ject suggested  by  these  studies. 


SCHEME    III. 

JFor  t]^e  Stutjg  of  Pocttcal  l^omance. 


LITERATURE. 
For  manuals,  see  Scheme  I. 

To  be  studied  :  —  Sir  Walter 
Scott's  great  poems,  — 

The  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel. 

Marmion. 

The  Lady  of  the  Lake. 

To  be  read  : — 

Carlvle's  Essay  on  Sir  Wal- 
ter Scott. 

Hazlitt  on  Scott,  in  The 
Spirit  of  the  Age. 

The  chapter  on  Scott  in  Shaw's 
Manual  of  English  Liter- 
ature. 


PARALLEL  STUDIES. 
For  histories,  see  Scheme  I. 

Read  the  history  of  Scotland 
from  the  earliest  period  to  the 
reign  of  James  V. 
Miss       Porter's       Scottish 

Chiefs. 
Scott's    Minstrelsy    of    the 

Scottish  Border. 
Avtoun's    Ballads  of  Scot- 
land. 
Scott's  Fair  Maid  of  Perth. 
Write  essays  on  subjects  sug- 
gested by  these  studies. 

Discuss  the  character  of  the 
Scotch  people  in  feudal  times. 


i86 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


R.  H.  Hutton's  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  in  "  English  Men  of 
Letters." 

How  the  Romance  poetry 
differed  from  Classic  poetry. 

See  Macaulay's  Essay  on 
Southey's  Life  of  Byron. 

The  Origin  of  Romance  Lit- 
erature. —  Refer  to  — 

Warton's  History  of  Poetry. 

The  Introduction  to  Ellis's 
Early  English  Metrical  Ro- 
mances. 

Ritson's  Ancient  English 
Metrical  Romances. 

Percy's  Religues,  introductory 
essay  to  book  iii. 

To  be  studied  :  — 
Tennyson's    Idylls     of    the 

King. 
Refer  to  Taine's  criticism  of 

Tennyson's    Poetry,   in    his 

English  Literature,  vol.iv. 


Read  selected  portions  of 
Byron's  poetical  romances :  — 

The  Giaour. 

The  Corsair. 

The  Bride  of  Abydos. 

The  Siege  of  Corinth. 

Read  Byron,hy  John  Nichol, 
in  "  English  Men  of  Letters." 

Read  Matthew  Arnold's  In- 
troduction to  the  Selected 
Poems  of  Lord  Byron. 


Compare  selections  from 
Scott  with  selections  from 
Pope.  Find  other  illustrations 
of  the  difference  between  the 
two  schools  of  poetry. 


Read  the  chapter  on  the 
Troubadours,  in  Sismondi's 
Literature  of  Southern  Eu- 
rope ;  also  in  Van  Laun's  //is- 
tory  of  French  Literature. 

Refer  to  Miss  Prescott's 
Troubadours  and  Trouvires. 


Read  the  account  of  the  ro- 
mances of  King  Arthur  as  re- 
lated in  the  books  already 
mentioned. 

Also,  — 
Lanier's  Boy's  King  A  rthur. 
Bulfinch's  Age  of  Chivalry. 
Geoffrey    of    Monmouth's 

British  History,  books  viii. 

and  ix. 

Write  an  essay  on  the  King 
Arthur  legends. 

Compare  Byron's  poetry 
with  that  of  Sir  Walter  Scott, 

I  St.  As  to  matter. 

2d.  As  to  style. 

Write  essays  on  subjects  sug- 
gested by  these  studies. 

Discuss  reasons  why  Lord 
Byron's  poetry  is  much  less 
popular  than  formerly. 


STORY-TELLING  POETRY. 


187 


Study  selections  from 
Moore's  Lalla  Rookh. 

Read  Hazlitt's  criticisms  on 
Moore,  in  his  "  English  Poets." 

Also,  W.  M.  Rossetti's  In- 
troduction to  the  Poems  of 
Thomas  Moore. 

Study  selections  from  Vi.ox- 
x\^ s  S igurd  the  Volsung ;  also 
from  The  Earthly  Paradise 
by  the  same  author. 


Study,  from  whatever  sources 
are  available,  Oriental  life  and 
manners  as  portrayed  in 
Lalla  Rookh.  Write  essays 
on  the  same. 


Study  the  myths  of  the 
north,  referring  to  Mallet's 
Northern  A  ntiquities  and  An- 
derson's Norse  Mythology. 


SCHEME    IV. 


JFor  tfje  Stutjg  of  %i^x^'€Mv<%  P0rtr2. 


LITERATURE. 

Use  manuals  for  reference 
as  indicated  in  Scheme  I.  To 
these  may  be  added  Under- 
wood's American  Literature, 
and  White's  Story  of  English 
Literature. 

Chaucer's  Canterbury  Tales. 
Study    the     Prologue    and 
either  the   Knightes    Tale  or 
the  Clerkes  Tale. 

Refer  to,  or  read,  — 

The  Riches  of  Chaucer,  by 
Charles  Cowden  Clarke. 

Lowell's  Essay  on  Chaucer, 
in  "  My  Study  Windows." 

Carpenter's  English  of  the 
Fourteenth  Century. 

Chaucer's  Canterbury  Tales 
Explaitud,  by  Saunders. 

Canterbury  Chimes,  by  Storr 
and  Turner. 


PARALLEL  STUDIES. 

Use  for  reference.  Green's 
History  of  the  English  People, 
or  Knight's  History  of  Eng- 
land;  also,  some  standard  his- 
tory of  America. 

Study  the  history  of  England 
in  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
especially  the  social  condition  of 
the  people  during  that  period. 

Make  some  acquaintance 
witli  the  great  Italian  writers 
who  flourished  about  this  time, 
and  exerted  a  marked  influ- 
ence upon  Chaucer's  work. 

Refer  to  — 

SisMONDi's  Literature  of 
Southern  Europe; 

Campbell's  Life  of  Petrarch; 

Botta's  Dante  as  Philoso- 
pher, Patriot,  and  Poet;  etc. 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


Stories  from    Old    English 
Poetry,  by  Mrs.  Richardson. 

Read  some  of  Scott's  shorter 
narrative  poems,  — 

Rokeby. 

The  Bridal  of  Triertnain. 

Harold  the  Dauntless- 

For  criticisms  and  essays  on 
Scott,  see  Scheme  III. 


Study  the  historical  subjects 
suggested  by  these  poems. 

See  Parallel  Studies  in  con- 
nection with  Scott's  longer 
poems.  Scheme  III. 


Study  The  Prisoner  of  Chil-        See  criticisms  on  Byron,  in 
Ion,  by  Lord  BjTon.  Taine's  English  Literature. 


Read  Wordsworth's  story- 
poems,  — 

The  White  Doe  ofRylstone  ; 

Peter  Bell; 

We  are  Seven  ;  etc 

Study  Coleridge's  The  An^ 
cient  Mariner,  and  Keats's 
The  Eve  of  St.  Agnes. 

For  criticisms  on  the   poets 

last  read,  refer  to  — 

Hazlitt's  English  Poets. 

Swinburne's  Studies  and  Es- 
says. 

Shairp's  Studies  in  Poetry. 

Lord  Houghton's  Life  of 
Keats. 

Matthew  Arnold's  Essay 
on  Keats,  in  Ward's  English 
Poets. 

Carlyle's  Reminiscences. 

Read  Campbell's  Gertrude 
of  Wyoming. 

Read  selections  from  Mrs. 
Hemans. 

Read  Mrs.  Browning's  Z.ai/j' 
Geraldine' s  Courtship  ;  also 
some  of  her  shorter  poems. 


Read  Hazlitt's  estimate  of 
Wordsworth,  in  The  Spirit 
of  the  Age. 
DeQuincey  on  Wordsworth's 
poetry,  in  Literary  Criti- 
cism. 

Write  essays  on  subjects  sug- 
gested by  these  studies. 


Study  the  history  of  the  Eng- 
lish people  from  1760  to  1820, 
with  special  reference  to  their 
social  condition,  and  the  pro- 
gress of  literature. 

Write  essays  on  suggested 
subjects. 


Read  the  historical  account 
of  the  Massacre  of  Wyoming. 

Read  biographies  of  Mrs. 
Hemans  and  Mrs.  Browning. 
Discuss  reasons  why  Mrs.  He- 
mans' poetry  is  no  longer  pop- 
ular. 


ALLEGORY. 


Study  Tennyson's  poems,  — 
The  Priticess. 
Maud. 

Enoch  Arden. 
Also  his  shorter  poems. 

Study  at  least  two  poems  in 
Morris's  Earthly  Paradise. 

Study  Longfellow's  poems,  — 

Evangeline. 

Miles  Standish. 

Hiawatha. 

Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn. 

The  Skeleton  in  A  rtnor. 
Read  Underwood's  Life  of 
Longfellow. 

Study  the  story-poems  of 
John  G.  Whittier :  Maud  Mid- 
ler ;  Fludlreson;  etc. 


Consult  — 
Stedman's  Victorian  Poets. 
Hadley's  Essays. 
Kingsley's  Miscellanies. 


Study  the  classical  and  Norse 
legends  upon  which  these  sto- 
ries are  based. 

See  — 

Bancroft's  History  of  the 
United  States,  vol.  iv. 

Abbott's  Life  of  Miles  Stan- 
dish. 

Study  other  historical  refer- 
ences, etc.,  suggested  by  these 
poems. 

Write  essays  on  subjects  sug- 
gested by  these  studies. 


SCHEME    V. 


Jor  the  StuUg  of  ^llerjarg. 


LITERATURE. 

iEsop's  Fables. 

Oriental  parables  and  fables. 

Study    Bunyan's    PilgrinCs 

Progress,    as  being   the  most 

popular  allegory  in  the  English 

language. 
Read  — 

Macaulay's  Essay  on  John 
Bunyan. 

Cheever's  Lectures  on  Bun- 
yan. 


PARALLEL   STUDIES. 

Rhetorical  definition  of  alle- 
gory. The  distinction  between 
fables  and  parables. 

Study  the  history  of  the  rise 
and  progress  of  Puritanism  in 
England. 

Refer  to  Green's  History  of 
the  English  People,  and  to 
Taine's  English  Literature. 


190 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


Anglo-Saxon  parables  and 
allegories.  The  growth  of  the 
allegory. 

The  Vision  0/ Piers  Plowman. 
The  great  French  allegory,  the 

Roman  de  la  Rose. 
Chaucer's    Romaunt    of  the 

Rose. 

Other  allegorical  poems  usu- 
ally ascribed  to  Chaucer,  — 
The  Court  of  Love. 
The  Cuckow  and  the  Night- 
ingale. 
The  Parlament  of  Foules. 
The  Flower  and  the  Leaf. 

Refer  to  Taine's  English 
Literature. 

Notice,  next,  Dunbar's  The 
Thistle  and  the   Rose ;    also, 
The   Golden    Terge,  and    the 
Dance  of  the  Seven  Sins. 
Stephen     Hawes's      Grand 

A  tnour  and  la  Bell  Pucell. 

Study  selected  passages  from 
Spenser's  Faerie  Queene  ;  also 
the  general  plan  of  the  poem. 

See  — 

Lowell's  A  tnong  My  Books. 

Craik's  Spenser  and  his  Poe- 
try. 

Read  — 

Phweas  Fletcher's  Purple 
Island. 

Thomson's  Castle  of  Indo- 
lence. 

Lowell's  Vision  of  Sir 
Launfal. 

Gav's  Fables. 

BuRNs's  The  Twa  Dogs,  and 
The  Brigs  of  Ayr. 

A  bou  Ben  A  dhent. 


Consult  — 

MoR  ley's  English  Writers. 

Warton's  History  of  English 
Poetry. 

George  P.  Marsh's  Lectures 
on  tite  Origin  and  History 
of  tlie  English  Language. 

Skeats's  Specimens  of  Eng- 
lish Literature. 

Study  the  social  condition  of 
England     in     the     thirteenth, 
fourteenth,   and  fifteenth    cen- 
turies.     Refer  to  the  histories 
already  mentioned  ;  also  to  — 
Pearson's  History  of  Eng- 
land in  the  Fourteenth  Cen- 
tury. 
Lanier's  Boy's  Froissart,  or 
the  abridged  edition  oiFrois- 
sart's  Chroiiicles. 
Tovi-lk's  History  of  Henry  V. 

Study  the  social  and  literary 
history  of  England  during  the 
sixteenth  century. 

Refer  to  Froude's  History 
of  England. 

Write  essays  on  subjects  stig- 
gested  by  these  studies- 


Discuss  the  value  of  allegory 
as  an  aid  in  education. 

Why  has  the  taste  for  alle- 
gory steadily  declined? 

Write  in  plain  prose  the  les- 
son learned  in  each  of  the  fa- 
bles studied. 

What  relationship  exists  be- 
tween fables  and  myths  ? 


DIDACTIC  POETRY. 


191 


SCHEME    VI. 


j0t  tfje  Stutig  of  ©iliactic  poetrg. 


LITERATURE. 

Dryden's  Religio  Laid;  and 
The  Hind  and  the  Panther. 
Study  selected  passages  from 

Pope's   Essay    on     Criticism, 

and  Essay  on  Man. 

Young's  Night  Thoughts. 

Johnson's  Vanity  of  Human 
IVishes. 

Akenside's  Pleasures  of  the 
I  tnagination. 

Warton's  Pleasures  of  Mel- 
ancholy. 

Rogers'  Pleasures  of  Mem- 
ory. 

Campbell's  Pleasures  of 
Hope. 

Grahamk's  The  Sabbath. 

Study  selected  passages  from 
Wordsworth's  Excursion. 

Select  and  study  some  of  the 
best-known  shorter  didactic 
poems  in  the  language. 


REFERENCES. 

Refer  to  — 

Hazlitt's  English  Poets', 
Lowell's  Among  My  Books 
(essay  on  Dryden) ;  Macau- 
lay's  Essay  on  Dryden ;  and 
Taine's  English  Literature. 

Johnson's  Lives  of  the  Poets ; 
Stephen's  Hours  in  a  Libra- 
ry; De  Quincey's  Literature 
of  the  Eighteenth  Century. 

Macaulay's  Essay  on  Samuel 
fohnson;  Boswell's  Z.y%  of 
Dr.  fohnsott ;  Carlyle's  Es- 
say on  BosweWs  Life  of 
Johnson ;  Stephen's  fohn- 
son, in  "  English  Men  of  Let- 
ters." 

Whipple's  Essay  on  Words- 
worth, in  "Literature  and 
Life." 

Shairp's  Studies  in  Poetry 
and  Philosophy ;  Hazlitt's 
Spirit  of  the  Age  ;  Charles 
Lamb's  Essay  on  Words- 
worth's Excursion. 


1^2 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


SCHEME    VII. 


JFor  tfje  Stutig  of  Ustic  ^oetrg. 


LITERATURE.  |     PARALLEL  STUDIES. 

I. 

The  Earljr  Ballads. 

Read  histories  and  stories  of 
the  mediaeval  times. 

Refer  to  Percy's  Religues ; 
Aytoun's  Scottish  Ballads ; 
Scott's  Minstrelsy  of  the  Scot- 
tish Border. 


Ballads  of  Robin  Hood. 
Ballads  of  the   Scottish   Bor- 
der. 
Modem  Ballads. 


II. 
Songs  of  Patriotism. 


Read  and  study  the  best- 
known  patriotic  poems  in  the 
language. 


Study  the  historical  events, 
or  other  circumstances  which 
led  to  the  production  of  these 
poems. 


III. 
Battle  Songs. 


The  battle  scenes  in  Scott's 
poems.  Bums:  "Scots  wha 
hae  wi'  Wallace  bled."  Ma- 
caulay's  Battle  o/Ivry,  Nose- 
by,  Horatius  at  the  Bridge. 
Tennyson's  Charge  of  the 
Light  Brigade.     Drayton's 


Battle  of  Agincourt. 


Study  the  historical  events 
which  gave  rise  to  these  poems. 

Write  essays  on  subjects  sug- 
gested by  these  studies. 


IV. 


Beligioiis  Songs  and  Hymns. 


George  Herbert's  Temple. 
Read  selections  from  Cra- 
shaw  and  Vaughan.  Study 
Milton's  Hymn  on  the  Na- 


For  specimens  and  extracts 
of  lyric  poetry  of  every  class, 
consult  Ward's  English  Poets  ; 
Appleton's  Library  of  British 


LYRIC  POETRY. 


193 


itviiy,  and  selections  from 
Keble's  Christian  Year. 
Read  Pope's  Universal 
Prayer,  and  The  Dying 
Christian ;  also  selections 
from  Moore's  Sacred  Songs, 
Byron's  Hebrew  Melodies, 
and  Milman's  Hymns  for 
Church  Service. 


Poets;  The  Family  Library  of 
British  Poets;  Emerson's  Par- 
ttassus ;  Chambers'  Cyclope- 
dia of  English  Literature ; 
Bryant's  Library  of  Poetry 
and  Song ;  and  Piatt's  A  mer- 
ican  Poetry  and  A  rt. 


V. 


Love  Ljrlcf. 


The  Songs  of  the  Trouba- 
dours. Wyatt's  Poems. 
Marlowe's  Passionate  SJiep- 
herd.  Raleigh's  The 
Nymph's  Reply.  Robert 
Herrick's  Poems.  Selections 
from  the  poems  of  Sir  John 
Suckling.  The  love  poems 
of  Robert  Burns.  Coleridge's 
Genevieve.  Selections  from 
other  poets. 


Consult  Miss  Prescott's 
Troubadours  and  Trouvires  ; 
Warton's  History  of  English 
Poetry.  Study  the  biographies 
of  Marlowe,  Raleigh,  Herrick, 
and  Suckling.  Read  Carlyle's 
Essay  on  Robert  Burns;  and 
Principal  Shairp's  Bums,  in 
"English  Men  of  Letters." 


VI. 


The  origin  of  the  sonnet.  Se- 
lections from  the  sonnets  of 
Wyatt,  Spenser,  Sidney, 
Shakspeare,  Drayton,  Drum- 
mond,  Milton,  Wordsworth, 
Keats,  and  others.  Mrs. 
Browning's  Sonnets  from 
the  Portuguese. 


See  Leigh  Hunt's  Book  of 
the  Sonnet ;  Dennis's  English 
Sonnets ;  French's  Dublin 
Afternoon  Lectures ;  Massey's 
Shakspeare' s  Sonnets ;  Henry 
Brown's  Sonnets  of  Shak- 
speare Solved;  Tomlinson's 
Tfte  Sonnet:  its  Origin, 
Structure,  and  Place  in 
Poetry. 


VI L 
Odai. 


Dryden's  a  lexander's  Feast. 
Pope's    Ode  on  St.   Cecilia's 
Day. 


See  Husk's  Account  of  the 
Musical  Celebrations  on  St. 
Cecilia's  Day,  in  the  Sixteenth, 


13 


194 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


CoLLlNs's  Ode  on  the  Pas- 
sions, and  other  odes. 

Gray's  Ode  on  the  Progress 
of  Poesy,  and  The  Bard. 

Keats's  Sleep  and  Poetry. 

Shelley's  Ode  to  Liberty,  and 
To  the  West  Wind. 

Coleridge's  Ode  on  France, 
and  To  the  Departing  Year. 

Wordsworth's  Ode  on  the 
Intitnations  of  Itntnortality. 


Seventeenth,   and    Eighteenth 
Centuries. 

Study  the  construction  of  the 
ode.  Compare  the  English  ode 
with  the  Greek  and  Latin 
ode.  Learn  something  of  the 
odes  of  Horace. 

Write  essays  on  subjects  sug- 
gested by  these  studies. 


vrn. 


Elegies. 


Study  Milton's  Lycidas. 
Read  selections  from  Spen- 
ser's Astrophel ;  Shelley's 
A  donais  ;  Tennyson's  In  Me- 
tnoriam ;  Ode  on  the  Death 
of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  ; 
Pope's  Elegy  07i  an  Unfortti- 
tiale  Lady.  Study  Gray's  Ele- 
gy in  a  Country  Churchyard ; 
The  Dirge  in  Cymbeliiu:  ;  and 
Collins's  Dirge  in  Cymbeline. 
Read  Shenstone's  Elegies  ; 
Cowper's  The  Castaway  ;  and 
Bryant's  Thanaiopsis. 


For  references  to  Milton  and 
Spenser,  see  other  schemes. 
For  Shelley's  Adonais,  see 
Hutton's  Essays.  See  F.  W. 
Robertson's  Analysis  of  In 
Menioriam.  See  also,  for  sub- 
jects connected  with  these 
studies,  Roscoe's  Essays  ;  Haz- 
litt's  English  Poets  ;  Dr.  Jolin- 
son's  Li/e  of  Gray;  E.  W. 
Gosse's  Gray,  in  "  English 
Men  of  Letters  ;  "  Parke  God- 
win's Life  of  William  Cullen 
Bryant. 


IX. 

Mlscellaneons  Lyricc. 


Study  selections  from  the 
poems  of  Burns,  Ramsay,  and 
Fergusson ;  Whittier,  Bryant, 
and  Longfellow ;  William 
Blake ;  Mrs.  Browning,  Tenny- 
son, and  Swinburne  ;  and  oth- 
ers, both  British  and  American. 


Refer  to  the  manuals  else- 
where mentioned. 

Write  essays  on  subjects  sug- 
gested by  these  studies. 

Discuss  the  distinctive  quali- 
ties of  Lyric  Poetry,  and  the 
place  which  it  occupies  in  Eng- 
lish Literature. 


DESCRIPTIVE  POETRY. 


195 


SCHEME    VIII. 


LITERATURE. 

Study  selections  from  the 
poems  of  William  CuUen  Bry- 
ant. 

Study  Whittier's  Sncnu- 
Bound,  and  other  descriptive 
poems. 

Study  Mihon's  V  Allegro 
and  //  PcTtseroso. 

Study  selections  from  Thom- 
son's Seasons,  and  Cowper's 
Task. 

Study  Goldsmith's  Traveller, 
and  The  Deserted  Village; 
also,  Shenstone's  Schoolmis- 
tress. 

Find  and  read  characteristic 
descriptive  passages  in  the 
poems  of  Scott,  Byron,  Shelley, 
Wordsworth,  Keats,  Brown- 
ing, and  others.  Compare 
Scott's  descriptions  with  the 
descriptions  in  Pope's  IVind- 
sor  Forest  and  in  Denham's 
Cooper'' s  I /ill. 

Select  and  study  descriptive 
passages  from  Chaucer's  Po- 
ems, and  from  Spenser's  Faerie 
Queene. 

Read  selections  from  Gay's 
Rural  Sfioris,  and  from  Bloom- 
field's  Farmer's  Boy. 


PARALLEL  STUDIES. 

See  Godwin's  Life  of  IVil- 
liatn  Cullen  Brya?tt ;  and 
Underwood's  biography  of 
John  G.  Whittier.  See  Stop- 
ford  Brooke's  Miltoti  ;  and 
Mark  Pattison's  Miltoti,  in 
"  English  Men  of  Letters ;  " 
Irving's  Life  of  Goldstnith; 
Thackeray's  English  Humor- 
ists of  the  Eighteenth  Century; 
William  Black's  Goldsmith,  in 
"  English  Men  of  Letters  ;  " 
Hazlitt's  English  Poets;  and 
De  Quincey's  Literature  of  the 
Eighteenth  Century. 

Read  Macaulay's  Essay  on 
Moore's  Life  of  Byron. 

Refer  to  Goldwin  Smith's 
Cotvper,  in  "  English  Men  of 
Letters ; "  also  to  Charles 
Cowden  Clarke's  Life  of  Cow- 
per. 

See  references  to  Chaucer 
and  Spenser  elsewhere  given. 


FMtoral  Poetry. 


Study  Milton's  Arcades,  and 
selections  from  Pope's  Pasto- 
rals ;  also  from  Spenser's 
She/herd's  Calendar. 


Read  Pope's  Essay  on  Pas- 
toral Poetry. 

Learn  something  about  The- 
ocritus   and    his    Idyls,    and 


196 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


See  Drayton's  Shepherd's 
Garland;  Browne's  Britan- 
nia's Pastorals  ;  Jonson's  Sad 
Shepherd;  Fletcher's  Faith- 
ful Shepherdess;  Gay's  SJtep- 
herd's  Week;  Ramsay's  Gen- 
tle Shepherd;  and  Shenstone's 
Pastoral  Ballads. 


about  the  Eclogues  of  Virgil. 
A  translation  of  the  former 
may  be  found  in  Bohn's  Clas- 
sical Library.  The  latest 
translation  of  the  Eclogues  is 
that  by  Wilstach. 


SCHEME    IX. 


jFor  tfje  Stutig  of  Satire,  Mit,  antJ  J^umor. 


LITERATURE. 

Dean  Swift,  the  great  Eng- 
lish  satirist.     Study   his  life 
and  character.  See  Forster's 
Li/e  of  Swift ;    or    Leslie 
Stephen's  Swift,  in  "  Eng- 
lish Men  of  Letters." 
Read  selections  from  Gulli- 
ver^ s  Travels,  and  the  Tale  of 
a  Tub.  Read,  also,  his  Modest 
Proposal. 

Daniel  Defoe's  Satirical  Es- 
says:    The    Shortest    Way 
with  Dissenters,  etc. 
See  Minto's  Defoe,  in  "  Eng- 
lish Men  of  Letters." 

The   origin  and    growth   of 
satirical  literature  in  England. 
John  SKEi.TON's.S'(i//r«.    See 

Warton's  History  of  English 

Poetry,  and  Taine's  English 

Literature. 
Barclay's    Shyp   of   Fooles. 

See  Warton's  History. 
The    Satires    of    Surrey    and 

WyatL    See  Hallam's  LiUr- 


PARALLEL  STUDIES. 

Rabelais,  the  great  satirist 
of  France.  Read  Besant's 
French  Humorists ;  and 
Rabelais,  by  the  same  au- 
thor. Refer  also  to  Van 
Laun's  History  of  French 
Literature. 

Voltaire,  the  third  of  the 
great  modem  satirists. 
Read  Parton's  Life  of  Vol- 
taire;  or  Voltaire,  hy  John 
Morley ;  or  Colonel  Ham- 
ley's  Voltaire,  in  "  Foreign 
Classics  for  English   Read- 


Satirical  literature  in  Rome. 

The  great  poetical  satirists  of 
ancient  times,  —  Horace  and 
Juvenal.  See  Lord  Lytton's 
translation  of  the  Epodes 
and  Satires  of  Horace  ;  and 
Dryden's  Imitations  of  Ju- 
venal. Dr.  Johnson's  Lon- 
don   and     The    Vanity   qf 


SATIRE,    WIT,  AND  HUMOR. 


197 


ary  History,  and  Chalmers' 
Collection  vf  the  Poets. 

Gascoigne's  The  Steele  Glass. 

Donne's  Satires.  See  Pope's 
The  Satires  of  Dr.  DoKne 
Versified. 

Hall's  Virgidentianitn.    See 
Warton's  History,and  Camp- 
bell's Specimens  of  the  Eng- 
lish Poets. 
Study  selected  passages  from 

Butler's  Hudibras. 
Refer    to     Hazlitt's    Comic 

Writers,    and    Leigh    Hunt's 

Wit  and  Wisdom. 

Dryden's  a  bsalom  and  A  chi- 
tophel,  and  the  publications 
which  followed  it. 

Dryden's  MacFlecknoe. 

Pope's  Dunciad. 

Byron's   English  Bards  and 

Scotch  Reviewers. 
Lowell's  Fable  for  Critics. 

Pope's  Moral  Essays. 

Swift's  Satirical  Poems. 

The  humor  of  Fielding,  Smol- 
lett, and  Goldsmith,  as  ex- 
hibited in  their  writings. 

Chatterton's  Prophecy. 

Read  Bums*  Holy  Willie's 
Prayer,  and  the  Holy  Fair. 

Sydney  Smith.  See  the  Wit 
and  Wisdom  of  Sydney 
Smith  (1861). 

The  Fudge  Family  in  Paris, 
by  Thomas  Moore- 

The  Humorous  Essays  of 
Charles  Lamb. 

Thomas  Cari.yle's  Sartor 
Resartus,  and  Latter-Day 
Pamphlets.  Study  selec- 
tions. 


Human     Wishes    are    also 
imitations  of  Juvenal.     See 
Dryden's  Essay  on  Satire. 
To  understand  the  satires  of 
Hall,     Butler,     Dryden,    and 
Pope,  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  be  well  acquainted  with  the 
history  and  social  condition  of 
England    during     the    seven- 
teenth century. 

Study  Green's  History  of 
the  English  People. 

Study  the  political  agitations 
in  England  just  preceding  the 
Revolution  of  1688. 


Compare  these  four  personal 
satires,  and  write  essays  on  the 
subjects  suggested  by  their 
study. 

Read  Thackeray's  Hufnor- 
ists  of  the  Eighteenth  Century, 
and  Hazlitt's  Comic  Writers. 

Study  the  social  condition  of 
England  in  the  eighteenth 
century. 


Study  the  political  agitations 
in  England  during  the  first  half 
of  the  present  century.  Refer 
to  Knighfs  History  of  Etig- 
land,  and  to  Justin  McCarthy's 
History  of  Our  Own  Times. 
Miss  Martineau's  History  of 
the  Thirty  Yeari  Peace  may 
be  read  with  profit. 

Write  essays  on  subjects  sug- 
gested by  these  studies. 


198 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


Thackeray  as  a  humorist. 
Read  his  Irish  Sketch-Book, 
and  selections  from  the  Book 
0/  Snobs,  but  especially  ob- 
serve his  power  in  Vanity 
Fair. 

Read  and  study  Dr.  Holmes' 
Autocrat  0/  the  Breakfast- 
Table. 

Read  Lowell's  Biglow  Pa- 
pers. 

Read  selections  from  Mark 
Twain  and  other  living  Ameri- 
can humorists. 

Compare  the  humor  of  the 
present  day  with  that  of  the 
last  generation.  Read  selec- 
tions from  Irving's  Sketch 
Book,  and  Knickerbocker's 
Neiv  York. 

Read  Burns'  Tarn  O^  Shan- 
ter  ;  and  selections  from  Hood, 
John  G.  Saxe,  and  others. 


Study  the  true  distinctions 
between  Wit,  Humor,  and 
Satire ;  and  select  from  what 
you  have  read  a  number  of  illus- 
trative examples. 

Discuss  questions  which  may 
arise  from  these  studies  ;  and 
write  essays  on  the  same. 


Study  the  biographies  of 
Irving,  Lowell,  Holmes,  Mark 
Twain,  Saxe,  and  other  Amer- 
ican authors  whose  works  have 
been  noticed  in  this  scheme. 


SCHEME    X. 


iFor  tfje  Stutig  of  ISnglfg]^  ^rose  Jiction. 


General  Worlui  of  Beference. 
LITERATURE.  PARALLEL  STUDIES. 


DuNLOP's  History  0/ Fiction. 
Jeaffkeson's     Novels     and 

Novelists. 
Masson's     British    Novelists 

and  their  Styles. 
Tuckerman's      History      of 

English  Prose  Fiction. 


The  historical  works  and  also 
the  literary  manuals  mentioned 
in  Scheme  IV.  should  be  at 
hand  for  constant  reference. 


ENGLISH  PROSE  FICTION. 


199 


The  First  Bomances. 


Sidney's  A  rcadia. 

Lyly's  Euphues. 

Greene's    Pandosto,    or  the 

Triutnph  of  Time. 
The  Novels  of  Thomas  Nash. 


Study  the  conditions  of  life 
and  thought  in  England  under 
which  these  first  attempts  at 
the  writing  of  prose  romance 
were  made. 


II. 
Fatmlons  Voyages  and  Travela. 


Godwin's  Man  in.  the  Moon. 
Hall's     Mundus    Alter     et 

Idem. 
Swift's    Gulliver's    Travels; 

—  read  selections. 
Study  Robinsofi  Crusoe. 
The    Adventures    of     Peter 

Wilkins. 
Edgar  A.  Poe's  Narrative  of 

A  rthur  Gordon  Pym. 


See  Collins'  Lucian,  in  "An- 
cient Classics  for  English 
Readers,"  for  an  account  of 
Lucian's  Veracious  History. 

Read  the  voyage  of  Gargan- 
tua  by  Rabelais ;  or,  better, 
consult  Besant's  Rabelais. 

Read  Minto's  Defoe,  in 
"  English  Men  of  Letters." 

See  Forster's  Life  of  Dean 
Swift;  Scott's  Memoir  of 
Dean  Swift ;  and  Minto's 
Manual  of  English  Prose. 


Bomances  of  the  SapematnraL 
The    Castle     of 


Walpolk's 

Otranto. 
Mrs.  Radcliffe's  Romances. 
Godwin's  St.  Leon. 
Rulwbr's  Zanoni. 
Mrs.     Shelley's     Franken^ 

stein. 
Lewis's  The  Monk. 


See  Tuckerman's  Literature 
of  Fiction  (an  essay)  ;  C.  Ke- 
gan  Paul's  Life  of  William 
Godwin ;  Macaulay's  Essay  on 
Horace  Walpole  ;  Miss  Kava- 
nagh's  English  Women  of 
Letters. 


IV. 
Oriental  Bomancea. 


Beckford's  Vathek. 
Hope's  A  nastasius. 
The    Adventures    of    Hajji 
Baba. 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


Eiitorlcal  Bomances. 


Miss       Porter's       Scottish 

Chiefs. 
Scott's  WaverUy  Novels. 
The     Novels    of    G.     P.    R. 

James. 
Bulwer's  Last  Days  of  Pojn- 

feii;  Rienzi ;  Harold ;  The 

Last  of  the  Barons. 
Lockhart's  Valerius. 
Kingslky's  Hypatia. 
George  Eliot's  Romola. 


See  Lockhart's  Life  of 
Scott;  Stephen's  Hmirs  in  a 
Library;  Carlyle's  Essay  on 
Sir  Walter  Scott ;  Shaw's 
Manual  of  English  Litera- 
ture ;  Hutton's  Scott,  in  "  Eng- 
lish Men  o£  Letters  ;  "  Nassau 
Senior's  Essays  on  Fiction ; 
The  Life  of  E dinar d  Bul-wer- 
Lytton,  by  his  son,  the  present 
Lord  Lytton. 


VL 
Novels  of  Social  Life,  etc. 


Richardson's  Novels. 
Fielding's  Toin  Jones. 
Smollett's  Novels. 
Sterne's  Tristram  Shandy. 
Goldsmith's  Vicar  of  Wake- 
field. 
Miss  Burney's  Novels. 
Godwin's  Caleb  Williams. 
Miss  Edgeworth's  Novels. 
Scott's  Guy  Mannering;  The 

Heart    of  Mid  -  Lothia7t ; 

The  Bride  of  Lajnniermoor; 

The  A  ntiquary  ;  etc 
Miss  Austen's  Works. 
Thackeray's  Vanity  Fair. 
Dickens's  Pickwick  Papers- 
Other  Novels  of  Dickens  and 

Thackeray. 
Charlotte  Bronte's   Jane 

Eyre. 
Bulwer's  Novels. 
Disraeli's   Vivian  ;  and  Lo- 

thair, 
Charles  Kingslfv's  Noveh. 
George  Eliot's  Works. 


See  Stephen's  Hovrs  in  a 
Library  ;  Hazlitt's  English 
Novelists  ;  Thackeray's  Eng- 
lish Humorists  of  the  Eigh- 
teenth Century  ;  Irving's  Zy^ 
of  Goldsmith;  Macaulay's  Es- 
say rn  Madame  d'Arblay; 
MissKavanagh's£«^/MA  Wo- 
men of  Letters ;  James  T. 
Fields'  Yesterdays  ivith  Au- 
thors ;  Home's  Neiu  Spirit  of 
the  Age  ;  John  Forster's  Life 
of  Charles  Dickens  ;  Hannay's 
Studies  on  Thackeray ;  Han- 
nay's Cliaracters  and  Sketches; 
Anthony  Trollope's  Thack- 
eray, in  "  English  Men  of 
Letters;"  Taine's  English 
Literature,  vol.  iv.  ;  Mrs. 
Gaskell's  Life  of  Charlotte 
Bronfe  ;  Miss  Martineau's  Bi- 
ographical Sketches;  Thack- 
eray's Roundabout  Papers ; 
Life  of  Charles  Brockden 
Brown,  in  Sparks'  "American 
Biography ; ''  Griswold's  Prose 


ENGLISH  PROSE  FICTION. 


20I 


A  tnerica7i  Fiction  :  — 

Charles  Brockden  Brown's 
IVieland,  and  other  Novels. 
Cooper's  Novels. 
James  Kirke  Paulding. 
John  P.  Kennedy. 
William  Gilmore  Simms. 
Hawthorne's  Works. 
The  later  and  living  novelists. 


IVriiers  of  A  merica  ;  Pres- 
cott's  Miscellaneous  Essays ; 
J.  T.  Fields'  Hawthorne ;  H. 
A.  Vagi's  Li/e  of  Hawthorne  ; 
Lathrop's  Study  of  Haw- 
thorne ;  Roscoe's  Essays ; 
Hawthorne,  by  Henry  James, 
in  "  English  Men  of  Letters  ; " 
Cooke's  George  Eliot :  a  Crit- 
ical Study  of  her  Life,  Writ- 
ings, and  Philosophy  ;  (Round- 
Table  Series)  George  Eliot, 
Moralist  and  Thinker. 


VII. 


Didactic  Fiction. 


Mork's  Utopia. 

Harrington's  Oceana. 

Disraeli's  Coningsby. 

Bulwer-Lytton's  The  Com- 
ing Race. 

Bunyan's  Piigrim's  Pro- 
gress. 

Hannah  More's  Novels. 

Johnson's  Rasselas. 

The  modern  didactic  novcL 


See  Hallam's  Literary  His- 
tory ;  and  references  given  in 
the  preceding  schemes. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


**€\}t  Jl^mtixtti  Best  5300k0." 


HAVE  often  wished  some  one 
would  recommend  a  hundred 
good  books.  In  the  absence  of 
such  hsts  I  have  picked  out  the 
books  most  frequently  mentioned  with  ap- 
proval by  those  who  have  referred  directly 
or  indirectly  to  the  pleasures  of  reading, 
and  have  ventured  to  include  some  which 
though  less  frequently  mentioned,  are  espe- 
cial favorites  of  my  own."  Such  was  the 
prelude  of  an  address  delivered  by  Sir  John 
Lubbock,  in  January,  1886,  to  the  members 
of  the  VVorkingmen's  College,  London.  That 
address,  with  the  list  of  books  recommended 
therein,  was  the  beginning  of  a  spirited  discus- 
sion among  readers  and  book-lovers  both  in 
England  and  in  America,  which  resulted,  among 
other  things,  in  proving  that  in  so  small  ( ?j  a 
202 


"  THE  HUNDRED  BEST  BOOKS."      203 

matter  as  the  selection  of  a  hundred  books 
no  two  scholars  can  agree.  It  resulted,  also, 
in  the  formation  of  several  Hsts,  each  of  a  hun- 
dred good  books,  from  which  any  reader  can 
select  without  danger  of  serious  error.  Sir 
John  Lubbock's  list  is  as  follows  :  — 

The  Bible. 


Marcus  Aurelius,  Meditations. 

Epictetus. 

Confucius,  Analects. 

Le  Bouddha  et  sa  Religion  (St.  Hilaire). 

Aristotle,  Ethics. 

Mahomet,  Koran  (parts  of). 


Apostolic  Fathers,  Wake's  Collection. 

St.  Augustine,  Confessions. 

Thomas  a  Kempis,  Imitation. 

Pascal,  Pensees. 

Spinoza,  Tractatus  Theologico-Politicics. 

Comte,  Catechism  of  Positive  Philosophy  (Congreve). 

Butler,  Analogy. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  Holy  Living  and  Holy  Dying. 

Bunyan,  Pilgrim'' s  Progress. 

Keble,  Christian  Year. 


Aristotle,  Politics. 

Plato's  Dialogues,  —  at  any  rate  the  Phcedo  and  Re- 
public. 
Demosthenes,  De  Corond.  _ 
Lucretius. 
Plutarch. 


204  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Horace. 

Cicero,  De  Officiis,  De  Amicitid,  De  Senectute. 


Homer,  Iliad  and  Odyssey. 
Hesiod. 

Virgil. 

Nibehtngen  Lied. 
Malory,  Morte  d'' Arthur. 


Maha-Bharata,  Ramayatia,  epitomized  by  Talboys 
Wheeler  in  the  first  two  volumes  of  his  History 
of  India. 

Firdusi,  Shah-N'ameh  (trans,  by  Atkinson). 

She-king  (Chinese  Odes). 


^schylus,  Prometheus,  House  of  Atreus,  Trilogy,  or 

PerscE. 
Sophocles,  CEdipus,  Trilogy. 
Euripides,  Medea. 
Aristophanes,  The  Knights. 


Herodotus. 

Xenophon,  Anabasis.  ^- 

Thucydides. 

Tacitus,  Ger mania. 

Livy. 

Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall. 

Hume,  England. 

Grote,  Greece. 

Carlyle,  French  Revolution.-' 

Green,  Short  History  of  England. 

Bacon,  Novum  Organum.   ^ 


"  THE  HUNDRED  BEST  BOOKS P     205 

Mill,  Logic  and  Political  Economy. 
Darwin,  Origin  of  Species. 
Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations  (part  of). 
Berkeley,  Human  Knozvledge. 
Descartes,  Disconrs  sur  la  MSthode. 
Locke,  Conduct  of  the  Understanding. 
Lewes,  History  of  Philosophy. 


Cook,  Voyages. 

Humboldt,  Travels. 

Darwin,  N^aturalist  in  the  Beagle. 


Shakspeare. 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  and  the  shorter  poems. 

Dante,  Divina  Conimedia. 

Spenser,  Faerie  Queene. 

Dryden's  Poems. 

Chaucer,   Morris's  (or,   if  expurgated,   Clarke's  or 

Mrs.  Haweis's)  edition. 
Gray. 
Burns. 

Scott's  Poems. 

Wordsworth,  Mr.  Arnold's  selection. 
Heine. 
Pope. 
Southey. 

Goldsmith,  Vicar  of  Wakefield. 
Swift,  Gulliver's  Travels. 

Defoe,  Robinson  Crusoe.    

The  Arabian  Nights. 
Cervantes,  Don  Quixote. 
Boswell,  Johnson. 
Burke,  Select  Works  (Payne). 


206  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Essayists,  —  Bacon,    Addison,    Hume,    Montaigne, 

Macaulay,  Emerson. 
Moliere. 
Sheridan. 
Voltaire,  Zadig. 
Carlyle,  Past  attd  Present. 
Goethe,  Faust,  Wilhelm  Meister. 
White,  N^atural  History  of  Selbourne. 
Smiles,  Self  Help. 


Miss  Austen,  either  Emma  or  Pride  and  Prejudice. 
Thackeray,  Vanity  Fair  and  Pendennis. 
Dickens,  Pickwick  and  David  Copperfield. 
George  Eliot,  Adam  Bede. 
Kingsley,  Westward  Ho  ! 
Bulwer-Lytton,  Last  Days  of  Pompeii. 
Scott's  Novels. 

In  a  note  of  explanation  directed  to  the 
editor  of  the  "Pall  Mall  Gazette,"  Sir  John 
says  :  "  I  may  observe  that  I  drew  up  the 
list,  not  as  that  of  the  hundred  best  books, 
but,  which  is  very  different,  of  those  which 
on  the  whole  are  best  worth  reading." 

Commenting  upon  the  above  list,  Mr. 
Ruskin  says  :  "  Putting  my  pen  lightly  through 
the  needless  —  and  blottesquely  through  the 
rubbish  and  poison  of  Sir  John's  list  —  I  leave 
enough  for  a  life's  liberal  reading,  and  choice  for 
any  true  worker's  loyal  reading.  1  have  added 
one  quite  vital  and  essential  book,  —  Livy  (the 


"  THE  HUNDRED  BEST  BOOKS:'     207 

first  two  books),  and  three  plays  of  Aris- 
tophanes ("  Clouds,"  "  Birds,"  and  "  Plutus  "). 
Of  travels,  I  read  myself  all  old  ones  I  can 
get  hold  of;  of  modern,  Humboldt  is  the  cen- 
tral model.  Forbes  (James  Forbes  in  Alps) 
is  essential  to  the  modern  Swiss  tourist  —  of 
sense."  And  then  Mr.  Ruskin  proceeds  with 
his  demolition  of  Sir  Lubbock's  list.  He  strikes 
out  all  the  works  on  morals,  theology,  and 
devotion  at  the  head  of  the  list,  leaving  only 
Jeremy  Taylor  and  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress." 
He  strikes  out  also  Sophocles,  Euripides,  Gib- 
bon, Voltaire,  Hume,  Grote,  Southey,  Swift, 
Macaulay,  Emerson,  Thackeray,  George  Eliot, 
Kingsley,  and  Bulwer-Lytton.  Among  the 
philosophers  he  spares  only  Bacon ;  among 
the  novelists,  only  Scott  and  Dickens ;  among 
the  essayists,  only  Addison  and  Montaigne. 
In  a  letter,  written  shortly  afterward,  he  says  : 
"  As  for  advice  to  scholars  in  general,  I  do 
not  see  how  any  modest  scholar  coul'd  ven- 
ture to  advise  another.  Every  man  has  his 
own  field,  and  can  only  by  his  own  sense  dis- 
cover what  is  good  for  him  in  it." 

It  has  often  been  asked  by  lovers  of  good 
fiction,  "  What  are  the  hundred  best  novels  ?  " 
The  following  list,  prepared  some  years  ago 
by  Mr.  F.  B.  Perkins  for  the  "  Library  Jour- 


208 


THE  BOOK-LOVER. 


nal,"  although  by  no  means  perfect,  contains, 
without  doubt,  the  titles  of  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  all  that  is  best  in  the  department 
of  prose  fiction  :  — 


Don  Quixote. 

Gil  Bias. 

Pilgrim's  P'  egress. 

Tale  of  a  I'ub. 

Gulliver. 

Vicar  of  Wakefield.  - 

Robinson  Crusoe. 

Arabian  Nights. 

Decameron. 

Wilhelm  Meister. 

Vathek. 

Corinne. 

Undine. 

Sintram. 

Thisdolf. 

Peter  Schlemihl. 

Anastasius. 

Sense  and  Sensibility. 

Pride  and  Prejudice. 

Mary  Powell. 

Amber  Witch. 

Household  of  T.  More. 

Cruise  of  the  Midge. 

Guy  Mannering. 

Antiquary. 

Bride  of  Lammermoor. 

Legend  of  Montrose. 

Rob  Roy. 

Woodstock. 

Ivanhoe. 


Talisman. 

Fortunes  of  Nigel. 

Old  Mortality. 

Quentin  Durward. 

Heart  of  Midlothian. 

Kenilworth. 

Fair  Maid  of  Perth. 

Vanity  Fair. 

Pendennis. 

Newcomes. 

Esmond. 

Adam  Bede. 

Mill  on  the  Floss. 

Romola. 

Middlemarch. 

Pickwick. 

Chuzzlewit. 

Nickleby. 

Copperfield. 

Bleak  House. 

Tale  of  Two  Cities. 

Dombey. 

Oliver  Twist. 

Tom  Cringle's  Log. 

Japhet   in   Search    of    a 

Father. 
Peter  Simple. 
Midshipman  Easy. 
Scarlet  Letter. 
Seven  Gables. 


"  THE  HUNDRED  BEST  BOOKS:'     209 


Wandering  Jew. 
Mysteries  of  Paris. 
Humphry  Clinker. 
Eugenie  Grandet. 
Charles  O'Malley. 
Harry  Lorrequer.  y 
Handy  Andy.        1/ 
Challenge  of  Barletta. 
Betrothed  (Manzoni's). 
Counterparts. 
Charles  Auchester. 
•Tom     Brown's     School- 
days. 
Tom  Brown  at  Oxford.  ~ 
Lady  Lee's  Widowhood. 
Horseshoe  Robinson, 
Pilot. 
Spy- 
Last  of  the  Mohicans.  -^ 
Jane  Eyre. 
Tom  Jones. 
My  Novel. 


On  the  Heights. 
Three  Guardsmen. - 
Monte  Christo.   — 
Les  Miserables.  - 
Notre-Dame. 
Consuelo. 
Fadette  (Fanchon). 
Woman  in  White. 
Love  Me  Little  Love  Me 

Long. 
Two  Years  Ago. 
Yeast. 
Coningsby. 
Young  Duke. 
Bachelor  of  Albany. 
Hyperion. 
Kavanagh. 
Minister's  Wooing. 
Knickerbocker's      New 

York. 
Elsie  Venner. 
^ncle  Tom's  Cabin. 


Henry  M.  Stanley,  the  African  explorer, 
writing  to  the  editor  of  the  "  Pall  Mall  Ga- 
zette," says :  "  You  asked  me  what  books  I 
carried  with  me  to  take  across  Africa.  I  car- 
ried a  great  many,  —  three  loads,  or  about 
one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds  weight ;  but 
as  my  men  lessened  in  numbers,  stricken 
by  famine,  fighting,  and  sickness,  one  by  one 
they  were  reluctantly  thrown  away,  until  finally, 
when  less  than  three  hundred  miles  from  the 
14 


2IO  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Atlantic,  I  possessed  only  the  Bible,  Shak- 
speare,  Carlyle's  '  Sartor  Resartus,'  Norie's 
Navigation,  and  the  Nautical  Almanac  for 
1877."  Then  follows  the  list  of  the  books 
with  which  he  began  his  journey :  — 

The  Bible. 

Norie's  Navigation. 

Inman's  Navigation  and  Tables. 

Nautical  Almanacs,  1874,  '75,  '76,  '77. 

Manual  of  Scientific  Inquiry. 

What  to  Observe. 

Darwin's  Origin  of  Species. 

Lyell's  Principles  of  Geology. 

Hugh  Miller's  Old  Red  Sandstone. 

Dictionary  of  Biography. 

Dictionary  of  Geography. 

Dictionary  of  Dates. 

Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 

Dictionary  of  Natural  History. 

Dictionary  of  Science  and  Literature. 

Caesar's  Commentaries. 

Herodotus. 

Horace. 

Juvenal. 

Thucydides. 

Xenophon. 

Plutarch. 

Evelyn's  Diary. 

Pepys's  Diary. 

Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall. 

The  Koran. 

The  Talmud. 

Johnson's  Lives  of  Poets. 

Gil  Bias. 

Don  Quixote. 


''THE  HUNDRED  BEST  BOOKS."     211 

Arabian  Nights. 

Hudibras. 

Homer's  Iliad. 

Homer's  Odyssey. 

Virgil's  ^neid. 

Shakspeare. 

Milton. 

Byron. 

Scott. 

Moore. 

Pope. 

Thomson. 

Longfellow. 

Tennyson. 

Cowper. 

The  Faerie  Queene. 

Selections  Old  English  Dramatists. 

Dick's  English  Plays. 

Boswell's  Johnson. 

Selections  from  Ruskin. 

Roscoe's  German,  Italian,  and  Spanish  Novelists. 

Scott's  Ivanhoe,   Talisman,   Guy   Mannering,   and 

Quentin  Durward. 
Bronte's  Jane  Eyre. 
Dickens's  Mutual  Friend. 
Dickens's  David  Copperfield. 
Thackeray's  Esmond. 
Hawthorne's  Transformation. 
George  Eliot's  Middlemarch. 
Irving's  Columbus. 
Irving's  Conquest  of  Granada. 
Prescott's  Conquest  of  Mexico. 
John  Halifax,  Gentleman. 
Whyte  Melville's  Gladiator. 
Lytton's  Rienzi. 
Lytton's  Last  of  the  Barons. 
Lytton's  Harold. 


212  THE  BOOK-LOVER. 

Lytton's  Caxtons. 
Sterne's  Tristram  Shandy. 
Kingsley's  Hypatia. 
Kingsley's  Hereward. 

Archdeacon  Farrar,  being  asked  to  name 
what  he  considered  the  hundred  best  books, 
replied  :  "  If  all  the  books  in  the  world  were 
in  a  blaze,  the  first  twelve  \Vhich  I  would 
snatch  out  of  the  flames  would  be,  the  Bible, 
Imitatio  Christie  Homer,  ^schylus,  Thucy- 
dides,  Tacitus,  Virgil,  Marcus  Aurelius,  Dante, 
Shakspeare,  Milton,  Wordsworth.  Of  living 
authors  I  would  save  first  the  works  of  Ten- 
nyson, Browning,  and  Ruskin." 


I  can  but  close  this  chapter  of  book-lists  by 
complying  with  the  wishes  of  many  parents 
and  educators  who  desire  a  more  extended 
catalogue  of  works  suitable  for  a  young  per- 
son's library  than  I  have  yet  given.  The  fol- 
lowing list,  although  by  no  means  including 
all  that  are  really  praiseworthy,  embraces  one 
hundred  volumes  that  can  be  recommended 
without  hesitation :  — 

Andersen's  Fairy  Stories. 
Alice's  Adventures  in  Wonderland. 
Robinson  Crusoe. 
Swiss  Family  Robinson. 


''THE  HUNDRED  BEST  BOOKS."     213 

Hawthorne's  Wonder  Book. 

Hawthorne's  Tanglewood  Tales. 

Kingsley's  Heroes. 

Kingsley's  Water  Babies. 

Kingsley's  Madame  How  and  Lady  Why. 

Lanier's  Boy's  King  Arthur. 

Scott's  Ivanhoe. 

Lanier's  Boy's  Percy. 

Abbott's  Histories  (30  vols.). 

Dickens's  Child's  History  of  England. 

Yonge's  Young  Folks'  Histories  (6  vols.). 

Edgeworth's  Parents'  Assistant. 

Aikin's  Evenings  at  Home. 

Scudder's  Bodley  Books  (8  vols.). 

Church's  Stories  from  Homer. 

Mrs.  Dodge's  Hans  Brinker. 

Andrews's  Seven  Little  Sisters. 

Bits  of  Talk,  by  "  H.  H." 

Eliot's  Poetry  for  Childhood. 

Lamb's  Tales  from  Shakspeare. 

Coffin's  Story  of  Liberty. 

Coffin's  Old  Times  in  the  Colonies. 

Coffin's  Boys  of  '76. 

Coffin's  Building  the  Nation. 

Higginson's  History  of  the  United  States. 

Thaxter's  Among  the  Isles  of  Shoals. 

Whittier's  Snow  Bound. 

Longfellow's  Evangeline. 

Starrett's  Letters  to  a  Daughter. 

Starrett's  Letters  to  Elder  Daughters. 

Notes  for  Boys,  by  an  Old  Boy. 

Buckley's  Oats  or  Wild  Oats  } 

CoUyer's  Talks  to  Young  Men. 

Munger's  Lamps  and  Paths. 

Butcher  and  Lang's  Homer  (2  vols.). 

Alcott's  Little  Women. 

Alice  Cary's  Clovernook  Children. 


214  ^^^  BOOK-LOVER. 

Scudder's  Book  of  Folk  Stories. 
Mrs.  Burnett's  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy. 
Taylor's  Boys  of  Other  Countries. 
Beard's  American  Boy's  Handy  Book. 
Beard's  American  Girl's  Handy  Book. 
Holder's  Marvels  of  Animal  I>ife. 
Holder's  Living  Lights. 
Jordan's  Science  Sketches. 
Herrick's  Chapters  on  Plants. 
White's  Plutarch  for  Boys  and  Girls. 
Hale's  Family  Flight  Series  (4  vols.). 
Nordhofl's  Politics  for  Young  Americans. 
Bolton's  Poor  Boys  who  became  Famous. 
Ruskin's  King  of  the  Golden  River. 


^n  ^fter  Wiox'ti. 


ERE  let  us  face  the  last  question 
of  all :  In  the  shade  and  valley  of 
Life,  on  what  shall  we  repose  ? 
When  we  must  withdraw  from  the 
scenes  which  our  own  energies  and  agOTiies 
have  somewhat  helped  to  make  glorious  ;  when 
the  windows  are  darkened,  and  the  sound  of 
the  grinding  is  low,  —  where  shall  we  find  the 
beds  of  asphodel?  Can  any  couch  be  more 
delectable  than  that  amidst  the  Elysian  leaves 
of  Books  ?  The  occupations  of  the  morning  and 
the  noon  determine  the  affections,  which  will 
continue  to  seek  their  old  nourishment  when 
the  grand  climacteric  has  been  reached. 

The  Author  of  "  Hbsperides." 


215 


INDEX, 


217 


INDEX. 


Abbott,  Jacob,  loj,  104. 
Addison,  Joseph,  32,  78,  207. 
"  ^neid,"  Virgil's,  74. 
yEschylus,  36,  74,  212- 
Alcott,    A.    Bronson,    63,   78, 

79- 
Allegory,  189. 
American  Fiction,  201. 
American  History,  138. 
Andersen,  Hans  Christian,  100. 
"Arabian  Nights,"  77. 
"  Areopagitica,"  78. 
Ariosto,  75. 
Aristophanes,  74,  207. 
Arnold,  Edwin,  160. 
Arnold,  Matthew,  72. 
Amott,  Dr.,  14. 
Axon,  William,  62. 

Bacon,  Lord,  53,  78,  96,  207. 
Ballads,  192. 
Banking,  170. 
Battle  Songs,  192. 
Baxter,  Richard,  165. 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  71. 
Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  18,  60. 
Bennoch,  Francis,  17. 
Bible,  The,  88,  159,  213. 
Boccaccio,  76. 

Books  for  Every  Scholar,  69. 
Borrowed  Books,  58. 
Boswell's  Johnson,  79. 
Bright,  John,  17,  63. 


Bronte,  Charlotte,  82. 
Brooke,  Stopford,  72. 
Brown,  Dr.  John,  154. 
Browne,  Matthew,  49. 
Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  78. 
Browning,   Elizabeth    Barrett, 

72,  76. 
Bryant,  William  Cullen,  73. 
Buddhism,  160. 
Bulwer-Lytton,  82,  207. 
Bunyan,  John,  76,  178. 
Burke,  Edmund,  78. 
Bums,  Robert,  72,  76. 
Burton,  Robert,  21,  78. 
Bury,  Richard  de,  9. 
Byron,  Lord,  76,  186. 

Calderon,  75. 

Camoens,  75. 

"  Canterbury  Tales,"  178. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  15, 29,  45,  79, 

119,  197. 
Carr,      Frank     ("  Launcelot 

Cross"),  61,  215. 
Cervantes,  76,  80. 
Chambers,  Robert,  71,  80,  93, 

104. 
Chambers,  William,  93. 
Channing,  William  EUery,  13. 
Chapman's  Homer,  74,  83. 
Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  42,  70,  187. 
Children's  Books,  84. 
Chinese  Classics,  160. 


220 


INDEX. 


Chivalry,  Tales  of,  102. 
Choice  of  Books,  23. 
Christian  Year,  The,  72. 
Cicero's  Orations,  79. 
Clarke,  James  Freeman,  19. 
Qarke,     Charles     and     Mary 

Cowden,  113. 
Cobbett,  William,  33. 
Coleridge,  Samuel  Taylor,  53, 

72,  76. 
Collier,  Jeremy,  13,  83. 
Collyer,  Robert,  25,  95. 
Colton,  Charles  C,  54. 
Comte,  Auguste,  43. 
Constitutional  History,  168. 
Cook's  Voyages,  91. 
Cooper,  James  Fenimore,  81. 
Comeille,  75,  76. 
Cox,  lOI. 

Crabbe,  George,  76. 
Craik,  Dinah  Mulock,  82. 
Crusoe,  Robinson,  80,  104. 
Currency  and  Wealth,  169. 

Dante's  "  Diviua  Commedia," 

36,  75.  76,  184- 
Dawson,  George,  64. 
Defoe,  Daniel,  80,  86,  104 
Demosthenes,  79,  178. 
Descriptive  Poetry,  195. 
Dickens,  Charles,  8i,  103,  207. 
Didactic  Fiction,  201. 
Didactic  Poetry,  191. 
Dramatic  Poetry,  179. 
Drayton,  Michael,  71. 
Dowden,  Edward,  72. 
Dryden,  John,  70,  71. 
Dyer,  George,  63. 

Elegies,  194. 

Eliot,  George,  81,  162,  207. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  16,  46, 

74,  79)  '2o,  163,  207. 
English  Literature,  174. 
Epic  Poetry,  183. 


Fabulous  Voyages,  199. 
Fairy  Stories,  99. 
Farrar,  Archdeacon,  212. 
F^nelon's  "Telemaque,"  8». 
Fiction,  English  Prose,  198. 
Fielding,  Henry,  81. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  85. 
Friedrich  II.,  21. 
Froude,   James   Anthony,    79, 
119. 

Geography,  144. 
Gibbon,  Edward,  51,  207. 
Gilfillan,  George,  46. 
Goethe,  54,  75,  76,  8i. 
Goldsmith,  Oliver,  72,  76,  80, 

92. 
Government,  Science  of,  167. 
Greek  Drama,  181. 
Greek  History,  121. 
Greek  Literature,  123. 
Green,  J.  R.,  78. 
Grimm,  100. 
Guernsey,  Alfred,  79. 

Hale,  Sir  Matthew,  159. 
Hallam,  Henry,  71. 
Hamerton,  Philip  Gilbert,  54. 
Hare,  Julius  C,  45. 
Harrison,  Frederic,  34,  76,  80, 

176. 
Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  81,  101. 
Hazlitt,  William,  70. 
Helps,  Sir  Arthur,  47. 
Herbert,  George,  71. 
Herodotus,  36. 
Herschel,  Sir  J.,  80. 
"  Hesperides,"  61. 
Historical  Romances,  200. 
History,   Course    of   Reading 

in,  119. 
Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,   70, 

72.  79- 
Homer,  36,  74,  90,  212. 
Horace,  75. 


INDEX. 


221 


Hudson,  Henry  N.,  io6,  io8. 

Hugo,  Victor,  63,  75,  81. 

Humor,  Wit  and,  196. 

"  Hundred  Best  Books,"  202. 

Hunt,  Leigh,  82. 

Hymns,  192. 

Irving,  Washington,  79,  96. 

Jerrold,  Douglas,  112. 
Johnson,  Samuel,  79,  So. 
Jonson,  Ben,  71,  78. 

Keats,  John,  72,  76. 
Keble,  John,  72. 
Kempis,  Thomas  &,  162. 
Kingsley,  Charles,  22,  81,  100, 

loi,  207. 
Koran,  The,  161. 

Labor  and  Wages,  170. 
Lamb,  Charles,  71,  79,  83,  113. 
Langford,  J.  A.,  19. 
Libraries,  56,  108. 
Locke,  John,  44. 
Lodge,  H.  Cabot,  79. 
Longfellow,  Henry  Wadsworth, 

72,  76,  189. 
Love  Lyrics,  193. 
Lowell,  J.  R.,  76,  79. 
Lubbock,  Sir  J.,  202,  206. 
Luther,  Martin,  44. 
"Lycidas,"  178. 

I-yric  Poetry,  194. 

Lytton,  Lord,  71,  75,  78,  82. 

Macaulay,  Thomas  Babington, 

73.  78,  79>  96,  "9i  '67,  207. 
MacDonald,  George,  71. 
Mackenzie,  79. 

Marcus  Aurelius,  161,  jia. 
Marlowe,  Christopher,  71. 
Martineau,  Harriet,  43. 
Medixval    and   Modem    His- 
tory, 129. 


Mediasval  Romances,  loi. 

Miller,  Hugh,  88. 

Milton,  John,  12,  71,  76,  78, 

183,  212. 
Molifere,  75. 

Montaigne's  Essays,  78. 
Morris,  loi. 

Morse,  James  Herbert,  37,  72. 
Mythology,  loi,  121. 

Natural  History,  144. 

"  Nibelungen  Lied,"  77,  loi. 

Novels,  80,  200. 

Nursery  Tales,  89. 

Odes,  193.  < 

Oriental  Romances,  199. 

"  Paradise  Lost,"  177,  183. 
Parker,  Theodore,  17,  134. 
Pastoral  Poetry,  195. 
Patmore,  Coventry,  76. 
Patriotism,  Songs  of,  192. 
Pauperism,  172. 
Perkins,  Y.  B.,  207. 
Petrarca,  Francesco,  10. 
Petrarch,  75. 

Philosophy  and  Religion,  154. 
Plato,  36,  159. 
Pliny  the  Elder,  25. 
Plutarch's  Lives,  79,  86,  124. 
"  Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe," 

IS- 
Political  Economy,  167. 
Pope,  Alexander,  71,  9a 
Population,  169. 
Praise  of  Books,  9. 
Prefaces  always  to  be  read,  51. 
Procter,  Bryan  Waller,  51,  56. 
Prometheus,  Tragedy  of,  74. 

Quintilian,  44. 

Rabelais,  76,  196. 
Racine.  75. 
RadcliSe,  Mrs.,  91. 


222 


INDEX. 


Rand,  McNally,  &  Co.'s  Atlas, 

144. 
Rands,  W.  H.,  49. 
Rantzau,  Henry,  22. 
Religious  Cooks,  154. 
Religious  Poetry,  192. 
Rhodiginus,    Balthasar    Boni- 

facius,  12. 
Richardson,  Charles  F.,  49, 55. 
Richter,  Jean  Paul,  64. 
Ringelbergius,  174. 
Robertson,  F.  W.,  43, 
"  Robinson  Crusoe,"  80,  104. 
Roman  History,  125. 
Roman  Literature,  128. 
Romances,  185,  199. 
Romances  of  the  Middle  Ages, 

lOI. 

Rules  for  Reading,  42,  46. 
Ruskin,  John,  30,36,  40,48,59, 
72,  76,  206,  207,  212. 

Saadi's  "  Gulistan,"  160. 
Satire,  196. 
Schiller,  75. 
Schlegel,  A.  W.,  74. 
Scholar,  Books  for  every,  69. 
School  Libraries,  108. 
Schopenhauer,  Arthur,  28,  35. 
Scott,  Sir  Walter,  72, 76, 81, 207. 
Scripture  Stories,  88. 
Searle,  January,  18,  23. 
Seneca,  44. 
Shakspeare,   36,  70,    76,   179^ 

180,  212. 
Shelley,  P.  B.,  76,  183,  194. 
Smith,  Alexander,  66,  79. 
Smith,  Goldwin,  72. 
Socialism,  171. 
Sonnets,  193. 
South,  Robert,  32,  44. 
Southey,  Robert,  27,  69,  207. 
Spectator,  The,  78,  86. 
Spenser,  Edmund,  36,  70. 


Stael,  Madame  de,  81. 
Stanley,  Henry  M.,  209. 
Stoddard,  R.  H.,  73. 
Story-telling  Poetry,  187. 
Stowe,  Harriet  Beecher,  81. 
Swift,  Dean,  80,  196,  207. 
"  Swiss     Family     Robinson," 
104. 

Taine,  H.  A.,  72,  75,  79,  81. 

"  Tales  from  Shakspeare,"  104. 

Tariff,  Books  on  the,  172. 

Tasso,  75. 

Taxation,  172. 

Taylor,  Bayard,  104. 

Tennyson,  Alfred,  72,  76,  189, 
212. 

Thackeray,  William  Make- 
peace, 80,  81,  207. 

Theological  Literature,  163. 

Thirlwall,  Bishop,  43. 

"  Tom  Brown's  School-Days," 
104. 

Travels  and  Adventure,  144, 

Troubadours,  The,  186. 

Twain,  Mark,  81. 

Value  and  Use  of  Libraries,  56. 
"  Vicar  of  Wakefield,"  80. 
Virgil's  "^neid,"  74. 

Wages  and  Labor,  170. 
Waverley  Novels,  81. 
Wealth  and  Currency,  169. 
Webster,  Daniel,  78,  178. 
Webster  John,  71. 
Whipple,  Edwin  P.,  20. 
Whittier,  John  G.,  73. 
Wit,  Humor,  and  Satire,  196. 
Wordsworth,  William,  19,  72, 
76,  212. 

Yonge,  103. 

Young  Folks,  Books  for,  84. 


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